Sports Big Business No. 2741, welcome to pay attention to the leading sports industry information platform
Wen | Wang Feng
Sports big business reporter
In the early morning of December 6, Beijing time, the 2021 Snooker British Championship came to an end. The 24-year-old Chinese teenager Zhao Xintong scored a 1-stroke breaker and a 6-stroke 50 to beat Brechel 10-5 on aggregate, becoming China's third "three major competitions" champion and the fourth non-British British champion after Ding Junhui and Yan Bingtao. After the match, Zhao Xintong received a prize of £200,000, ranked ninth in the world ranking, and locked up tickets for this season's Snooker Masters.
14 years of long waiting, and finally became the first person in the "three competitions" after 90
Originally from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Zhao Xintong was born in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in 1997 to medical workers. His father, Zhao Xiaowei, has high qualifications in the field of surgery and is currently the chairman of the trade union at Songgang People's Hospital in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, while his mother, Wen Anxiao, serves as the director of the nursing department in the hospital. The favorable and stable family conditions have allowed Zhao Xintong to dabble widely from an early age, including participating in various sports. "He likes to play football and table tennis, and after being exposed to billiards at the age of 8, he found that he was more talented in playing billiards, and his goal was to become a person like Ding Junhui."
Zhao Xintong is a left-handed player
With the support of his parents, Zhao Xintong began to specialize in billiards, and he studied under Wu Wenzhong, the godfather of Chinese snooker, and became Ding Junhui's disciple. In order to help Aizi realize his dream, Zhao Xintong's parents also transformed their home room into a ball room, configured a game-level snooker table, and created conditions to provide the best training environment for their children. Zhao Xintong's mother said: "We hurt and love our children, that is, to make children happy, and we must have something we like in our future lives." ”
Zhao Xintong's parents
Manipulating the scalpel and billiard clubs rely on careful thinking and dexterous hands, Zhao Xintong, who came from a medical family, seems to have a unique genetic advantage and gradually began to emerge in the domestic snooker arena. From beating Mark Williams at age 10 to defeating king Steve Davis at age 14, the "billiard prodigy" whose talent spreads in billiard circles has been likened to the future Trump and Jimmy White.
In 2013, Zhao Xintong officially entered the CBSA World Snooker Academy under the China Taiwan Association, becoming the leader in the "quasi-professional" sequence. Ding Junhui's father, Ding Wenjun, once commented, "Zhao Xintong is my favorite athlete and one of my favorite athletes. In Ding Wenjun's eyes, Zhao Xintong has good character, good three views, and first-class ball skills, "This kind of child is rare." "The coaches of CBSA World Snooker Academy are also quite optimistic about Zhao Xintong's championship potential.
Since then, Zhao Xintong, like Ding Junhui, has also chosen to stay in the Uk to improve his skills. During his stay in the UK, he maintained about 6 hours of training a day, and he would also carry out targeted training before the competition. In 2016, 19-year-old Zhao Xintong officially became a professional snooker player, and some fans began to call him "Little Rocket", "Quasi-God", "Zhao Gongzi" and so on.
Zhao Xintong in the game
In the first two years of the professional competition, Zhao Xintong was highly expected by the fans, but he was relegated because of his victories and losses. In the face of the predicament, Zhao Xintong calmly analyzed the problems of preparation and psychology, and he chose to stay alone in the UK to train, and finally returned to the professional arena again through Q School.
After regaining his professional qualifications, Zhao Xintong began to race against time, achieving a jump in the world ranking from 77th to 29th in three years. In the 20-21 season, he improved his ranking by three more places to 26th in the world.
Before the British Championship, Zhao Xintong had been on the British Championship venue 6 times in his career, and the best result was only the third round. However, unlike previous editions, he is already one of the fastest players on the World Snooker Tour, with an average of less than 19 seconds to shoot, combined with the advantages of high scoring quality and exquisite positioning.
"I watched a lot of games, especially the footage of the second half of the game. I can learn from the best players by observing them. Zhao Xintong said. The 24-year-old showed little signs of nervousness in the final, eventually becoming the first "post-90s" player to win three major tournaments and the youngest British Champion since Trump in 2011. After the match, Zhao Xintong won a seat in the Straight-Through Masters and the "Champions of Champions" Invitational Tournament, and locked in tickets to this season's World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship.
Zhao Xintong also updated his social media for the first time after the game, "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. This championship has condensed too much, thanks to the cultivation of the Chinese 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. ”
The British media compared Zhao Xintong to Trump, commenting, "People will only pay attention to Trump's success, but it is easy to forget his efforts and tactical breakthroughs at the beginning of his career." Trump turned pro in 2005 but didn't win the ranking tournament until 2011. ”
With a steady mindset, experienced experience and pure skills, the British Championship champion makes Zhao Xintong's future seem brighter, and he is expected to start a golden decade of his career like Trump.
Ding Junhui is no longer alone, and Generation Z is supporting the future of China's snooker
Today, Zhao Xintong's world ranking has soared, and he has come to the 9th place in the world, surpassing Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong to become the new brother of China's snooker. The specific rankings are: the 1st is Zhao Xintong, ranked 9th in the world; the 2nd is Yan Bingtao, ranked 16th in the world; the 3rd is Zhou Yuelong, ranked 17th in the world; the 4th is Ding Junhui, who ranks 27th in the world.
China's new generation of players are similar in age, Zhao Xintong and Zhou Yuelong are post-95s, Yan Bingtao is post-00s, and Generation Z has provoked the beams in the snooker arena. Although only Zhao Xintong entered the round of 16 and won the championship, a total of 25 Chinese players participated in the British Championship, and the reserve talents were abundant. At a time when China's snooker legion is becoming more and more powerful, the leader Ding Junhui is no longer alone.
After the British Championship Chinese occupy 3 places in the top 20 in the world
Compared with the master and disciple, the former "snooker brother" Ding Junhui was out of the game this season, failing to qualify for the Masters, and China's ranking also fell to fourth. Although Ding Junhui's state has declined, the achievements of the 34-year-old are still not comparable to Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong.
Only Ding Junhui in China has won the British Championship three times and won the first gold medal for Billiards at the Asian Games for China. Outside of the game, Ding junhui is already a member of the Snooker World Hall of Fame and has joined the World Professional Billiards Federation Players Board of Directors (WPBSA Players). As a billiards spokesperson in China and even Asia, Ding Junhui's business empire is extensive, he has his own studio, and he also participates in variety shows to promote sports in addition to competitions.
At present, billiards has been invited to return to the Asian Games and become the official competition of the 2030 Asian Games in Doha. Perhaps in the near future, billiards is also expected to enter the Olympic games. Compared with their predecessors, yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong still have unlimited possibilities for the future, and Chinese fans have high hopes for them.
The Chinese Gen Z snooker players have a more diverse style of play and personal hobbies, which also plays a positive role in expanding the audience of snooker sports. "Mo Wang" Yan Bingtao has a solid style and a big heart beyond the physiological age, becoming a role model for many younger players. Zhao Xintong has his own idol temperament, he is sharp in his style of play, advocating "violent aesthetics", this style of play takes a short time, which is very beneficial to attracting young audiences and improving the ratings of the game.
Zhou Yuelong (left) and Zhao Xintong
To catch up with Ding Junhui's achievements, Generation Z is also looking for the shoulders of giants. According to media reports, Zhao Xintong revealed that "Rocket" often pointed out to him after the game, sending messages and providing various suggestions. O'Sullivan said Zhao still has room for 30%-40% improvement.
Zhao Xintong gets O'Sullivan's "True Biography"
Perhaps O'Sullivan imparted not only technique, but also British gentlemanliness and personal style, which is also a commercial asset that Gen Z players can hold.
As a next-generation billiards player, Zhao Xintong runs through Chinese and Western styles. His shoe closet contains both leather shoes and trendy sneakers, reinterpreting the ancient sport from a young man's perspective.
YOHO! Trend Magazine Interview
After Yan Bingtao won the Masters championship at the beginning of the year, in April he also officially announced his personal sponsor Yuancheng Pu'er Tea, and the brand logo on his shirt accompanied his competitions throughout the year, gaining massive exposure from live broadcasts.
Yan Bingtao
It is believed that in the future, more Chinese billiards players will go to the international arena to show the style of Chinese athletes and win glory for the country.
Note: The images used in this article are from the Internet