Overcoming many difficulties, the World Snooker Tour successfully started the 2020/21 season, due to the impact of the global new crown epidemic, only the first half of the season schedule has been determined, and the competition is concentrated in the United Kingdom.
After some deliberation, Chinese players Mei Xiwen and Zhang Anda chose the latter in their careers and families, and decided to stay in China to accompany their families despite the risk of relegation.
Mei Xiwen and Zhang Anda participated in the snooker promotion activities in Lanzhou together in China, and the picture shows Mei Xiwen guiding the young players
Mei Xiwen has not participated in any competition since the Gibraltar Open seven months ago, and after the outbreak of the epidemic in March this year, the 38-year-old Mei Xiwen resolutely decided to return to China and return to his home in Shenzhen, where he is currently ranked 63rd in the world.
An important factor in his decision was his new role as father in February. During the period when he was unable to participate in professional competitions in the country, promoting snooker and participating in the operation of the snooker club became his career.
Greeting the birth of the child, Mei Xiwen, who returned from England, was very careful, and after receiving closed isolation, he isolated himself for a period of time. He said: "The child was born on February 2, I went out on the 5th ,and when I came back in mid-April, I quarantined myself for a dozen days to see the child, in order to be safer.' ”
Mehivan at the WST International Championships
"Now there is no game during the day, basically there is time to play with the children, go to practice at night, just take advantage of the epidemic to stabilize the family and career."
"Recently, I picked up a club in Shenzhen, and I ran a ballroom and accompanied my children at home. My job is mainly to teach playing and help more snooker enthusiasts improve their skills, and I myself have ensured a place to practice. ”
Mei Xiwen hopes to retain his professional qualifications, but has not yet decided when to return to the UK to compete. Talking about his career status, he said: "After playing for two years to play the ranking here, in fact, I played four seasons to play 55th, and I was actually very entangled in my heart, and I wanted to go (to the game) very early. ”
Mehivan
"The expectation is to give up two games and go to the UK at the end of October, but now the epidemic in the UK is more serious than expected, so there is no plan to go in the near future." Of course, I definitely hope to try to compete to maintain the ranking and competitive status, and I also need to participate more to maintain it. ”
Zhang made his professional debut in 2009 and has reached the main world championship three times. In July, he did not choose to travel to England to qualify for the World Championships, so he was relegated and disqualified at the end of last season. Like Mehivan, he was promoted to father this year.
He revealed what he thought when planning: "I thought about the best result and the worst result, the best thing was that I went to play the World Championships and achieved excellent results to rush to the top 64 in the world rankings, but at that time, the World Taiwan Federation (World Snooker Tour) had not yet announced the schedule of the new season, and the epidemic was very serious, and I judged that the new season might not be a good season, and maybe there would be very few games." ”
Anda Zhang at the Snooker World Championships
"Then I feel that I might as well settle in China for a year, wait for the epidemic to pass and then prepare for the battle, I am now 29 years old, I think I can still fight at 30 years old." The second thing is that my child was just born and really needed companionship, I was a family lover since I was a child, and I rarely went out to eat when I came home. ”
"(Outside) I also want to have children, play videos every day, try to make money is certain, for a long time is not my own, have a family and a wife, all aspects are to find a way to do everything well." 」
Zhang andda plans to attend Q School in 2021 in order to regain his professional qualifications, and he does not lack self-confidence in this regard: "I know my own strength level. I've been playing professionally for ten years, and the world rankings have been hovering around 60, 70, and that's not what I want. ”
Zhang Anda decided to "recharge" for a year and start again
"In my opinion, it is much easier to play Q School and enter a career than to keep a professional qualification, as long as you want to do it, but if you want to stand firm in the profession, I feel that I do not have such strength." 」
"I need to take a year off, think about the future, how to train, and if I stick to this path, this year must change." Of course, I tried before, but I absorbed (new things) more slowly, and I went to the competition every season with high intensity, and this race was lost before the next game started, and it has always been in this state. ”
"After a year of rest, I feel that at least it is not a bad thing, the only bad thing is that the competitive state will weaken, because if you often don't play, your nerves are not tight, and the tension during training is different." It's very different in the UK and you'll know the race is coming and know what to do. ”