Per Editor: Peng Shuiping
After Ding Junhui, China's snooker once again ushered in the birth of the British Championship champion.
According to Xinhua Sports, in the early morning of December 6, Beijing time, in the final of the 2021 Snooker British Championship held in York, England, China's Zhao Xintong defeated Belgian Brechel 10-5 to win the championship.
Image source: Xinhua News Agency
This is Zhao Xintong's first ranking champion, and with this title, he also qualified for the Snooker Masters next month.
At the same time, Zhao Xintong also created a history in the world of snooker - becoming the first "post-90s" player to win the title in three major competitions, and the youngest British Champion since Trump in 2011.
According to the information on the morning of the 6th on the official website of the Chinese Billiards Association, after Zhao Xintong won the Championship, the Chinese Billiards Association sent a congratulatory letter to Zhao Xintong, saying: I am glad to hear that you fought hard in the just-concluded 2021 World Snooker British Championship and won the first ranking championship of your career. After Ding Junhui and Yan Bingtao, he became China's third "three major competitions" champion and the fourth non-British British champion, and the world ranking rose to 9th. Hereby, the Chinese Billiards Association would like to express our warmest congratulations to you and the Chinese table team!
The excellent results of the British Championship champion are the testimony of your consistent adherence to the standards of professional players, the original intention and hard work, and the long-term support of your family and all sectors of society, which is particularly rare under the global epidemic. I hope that you will continue to work the road of development in the future and strive for better results.
As one of the role models of a new generation of young players, your achievements will further stimulate the hard training and perseverance of China's billiards players, and will inspire more Chinese billiards players to go to the international arena, show the style of Chinese athletes, and win glory for the country.
According to Beijing Daily, this year marks Zhao Xintong's seventh appearance at the British Championships, after his best result in the tournament was the third round. In this tournament, Zhao Xintong first defeated his compatriot Yuan Sijun in the first round, and then eliminated Thailand's Ta chaiya in the decider, and in the round of 16, Zhao Xintong reversed the jeopardy of John Higgins in the unfavorable start, successfully attracting attention. Next, Zhao Xintong Lienk Peter Lanes, Lisowski and the past championship runner-up Barry Hawkins made a historic breakthrough in the British Championship finals, one of the "three major competitions".
The final of the British Championship is a 19-game, 10-win system and is divided into 2 stages. In this game, although Zhao Xintong showed a good offensive state at the beginning, in fact, the two sides bit down relatively tightly at the beginning.
In the first set of the final, Zhao Xintong won by 79 points, won 79-4, and started strongly 1-0. However, Brechel then sent a shot of 133 points in the second set, 133-0 clean sheet Zhao Xintong, 1-1 equalizer. After a tug-of-war, Zhao Xintong ended the first half with a 5-3 lead.
After a few hours of rest, the two began to compete for the second half. Zhao Xintong's performance was even stronger, in the ninth inning, he played a single 87 points and kept a clean sheet brechel, leading 6-3; in the tenth inning, Zhao Xintong threw out a single shot of 120 points, 120-9 to win another set, 7-3 lead; in the eleventh set, Brechel pulled back a set. However, Zhao Xintong stabilized his mentality and played more and more smoothly. Won 3 of the last 4 innings and won the championship on aggregate 10-5.
With this title, Zhao Xintong not only became the youngest British Champion since Trump in 2011, but also qualified for the Snooker Masters next month.
For China's snooker, the championship trophy is also worth celebrating. Zhao Xintong is the only Chinese player after Ding Junhui to win the British Championship. Previously, Ding Junhui won the British Championship three times in 2005, 2009 and 2019.
In the post-game interview, Zhao Xintong could not hide the excitement in his heart, and constantly gently patted his chest to calm himself down: "I like it here very much, this is a very exciting night, all the efforts are for the dream, I don't know how to say, really very excited!" After moving into my career in 2016, my goal has never changed, that is, to win the ranking championship. Along the way, I had high hopes, but I also fell in front of opportunities many times. This time, I stood firm and finally lifted the championship trophy. ”
Born in 1997, Zhao Xintong has been publicly praised by many insiders for his talent, and O'Sullivan once had the idea of teaching him to play after watching his game. In addition, Fu Jiajun also praised Zhao Xintong's talent more than once. But in the professional arena full of masters, there are talented players who are not only Zhao Xintong. After entering the pro in 2016, he also experienced twists and turns. In the first 2 seasons, in the fewer wins and many losses, Zhao Xintong was relegated because of insufficient ranking.
"The first 2 seasons I was not fully prepared for the professional game, and I was still a little unconfident when I lost more and won less. By the second season I was still doubting myself and hadn't managed to relegate. After the relegation, Zhao Xintong analyzed his overall performance. At the same time, he also chose to stay in the UK alone to train and re-attack the professional qualifications. "I practice for 6 hours a day, and then I spend a few days a week going to the gym after training for physical training." At that time, only 21-year-old Zhao Xintong set a goal for himself, he knew that only self-discipline could help him improve his ball skills.
In the end, all the hard work paid off. The twists and turns encountered in his youth have also brought more gains to Zhao Xintong. "This championship has condensed too much, thanks to the cultivation of the China Taiwan Association, thanks to the mentor who guided me along the way, but also thanks to the friends and fans who have always supported me, you are my strong backing." At the age of 24, I still have a long way to go in my career, and I hope that this championship is my starting star and guides me to continue to bravely move forward. Zhao Xintong said.
Source: Daily Economic News Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency, China Billiards Association official website, Beijing Daily
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