On the morning of November 18, Beijing time, the 2021 World Snooker Championship Championship tournament ended the third day of competition. China's star Yan Bingtao is happy to pass the news, he beat Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby in a row, two masters, to win a semi-final spot in the second half.
According to the results of the draw, Yan Bingtao's group semi-finals are against Sean Murphy, who is 6th in the latest world ranking after the recent British Open. Sean Murphy is known for his solid style of play, known as the "stable gentleman" in the field of snooker, along with Selby, Ding Junhui, Robertson, Trump and called the "five tigers after the 80s"; Yan Bingtao is also a stable style of play, the latest world ranking 12th, belonging to the 00 generation of the leader.
Yan Bingtao and Murphy have played a total of 8 times in the past, and Murphy has the upper hand with 5 wins and 3 losses. But this time Yan Bingtao was obviously prepared, and the opening game quickly found his own rhythm, winning the opening with a single 88 points. In the second set, Yan Bingtao still felt the same, with a single shot 78 points into the account to 86-0 to the next city. In the third inning, Murphy pulled back a set with a single 52. In the fourth set, Yan Bingtao set off a stronger attack wave, scoring 96 points with a single shot, and rewriting the big score to 3 to 1 115-1. In the fifth set, the two sides were entangled, and Yan Bingtao killed 73-66 to lock the score to 4-1.
The other semi-final match is between world Number One Selby and David Gilbert. Gilbert took the lead 67-1 and then won by a single 77 innings. Selby picked up in the third set, shooting a single 67 to make it 74-61 to take home a thrilling set. In the fourth set, Gilbert won 69 in one shot and led 3-1 to get the match point. However, Selby completed the reversal in the predicament, and he blasted three consecutive high scores of 79, 131 and 72 to win three consecutive sets to defeat Gilbert 4-3 – including a milestone 131 in the sixth set, making Selby the sixth player in history to reach a 700-over-100.
In the group final, Yan Bingtao competed against Selby. The two sides have met 5 times, Selby 3 wins and 2 losses, but not long ago the British Open Yan Bingtao just eliminated Selby 4-3. Both sides had opportunities in the first set today, and Yan Bingtao continued to accumulate points in the second half of the game, winning the lead 74-20. In the second set, Selby scored a 68-point tie to equalise. In the third set, in the case of still no consecutive high scores, Yan Bingtao seized the opportunity in the chaotic battle, winning 84-39. In the fourth inning, Selby scored a single 78 points, and the two sides drew 2-2.
In the fifth set, Yan Bingtao began to output fire from the offensive end, shooting down a single shot of 76 points and sealing Selby with zero. In the sixth set, Yan Bingtao took advantage of the victory to chase 59-21 to the next city. In the seventh inning, Selby scored 132 points to bring the lead to 3-4, but it was his final madness of the game. Yan Bingtao soared a single shot of 140 in the eighth set, kept a clean sheet twice while getting the match point, followed by a single shot of 78 points in the ninth set to win, and finally beat the world's No. 1 with a big score of 6-3, and advanced to the semifinals.
This evening Beijing time, the Asian champion and China's snooker leader Ding Junhui's group will kick off, and the same group will be higgins, O'Sullivan and Bingham three legendary veterans. The group stage in the first half is over two days ago and Trump will face Karen Wilson in the semi-finals.