On December 14, Beijing time, the snooker World Grand Prix opened, as the number one seed Zhao Xintong lost to Martin Gould, who ranked lower than himself, and was eliminated in the first round. Judging from the rankings, this is considered an underdog, but the players who can participate in the World Grand Prix have remained in good shape this season, and the results are not too surprising. Why did Zhao Xintong get out of the first round? We can analyze three major reasons.
One thing to be clear is that the World Grand Prix is a stage for the top 32 players in the season, regardless of the previous record, at least these players are in excellent form this season. Zhao Xintong won the British Championship championship, the heaviest champion so far this season, he jumped to the ninth place in the world, and the ranking of the season rose to the first place. Everyone expected him to win the World Grand Prix again, but he was out early.
First of all, we can look for objective reasons. After the British Championship, Zhao Xintong, who was immersed in joy, relaxed a bit, that is, celebrated with his friends, so there was no systematic training in the past few days, and he did not participate in the Main Tournament of the Scottish Open, so it was difficult to enter the state of the game immediately. His opponent, Martin Gould, from the Scottish Open to the World Grand Prix, was in smooth form and the game felt good.
Secondly, the 7-game 4-win system is very variable, that is, short-term games are more likely to be upset, from the British Championship to the World Grand Prix, Zhao Xintong may not be very accustomed to changes in the format.
Third, there are obvious shortcomings in the technical level, and the defensive problems that O'Sullivan has mentioned many times are clearly visible, but they are actually comprehensive problems. The short-term system fully tests the comprehensiveness and stability of the players, which is relatively lacking in the current Zhao Xintong. At the psychological level, Zhao Xintong won the first ranking championship, or one of the three major competitions of the British Championship champion, the ranking rose from the second echelon to the top ten, simply from the ranking to the top master ranks. But in fact, not only the technical level, Zhao Xintong does not have the adaptability of top masters at the psychological level. Moreover, after entering the top ten, the outside world has greater expectations for him, especially the Chinese fans hope that he will impact the world championship, the pressure will increase instantly, and Zhao Xintong needs time to digest.
These should be the reasons why Zhao Xintong is out of the first round, and O'Sullivan hopes that Zhao Xintong will hire a defensive coach to help him, which is certainly good advice. However, at present, Zhao Xintong can ask Ding Junhui for advice, although Ding Junhui's current state is very poor, and his achievements are also very low, but as a senior, he can give Zhao Xintong a lot of advice. For example, after winning the first championship, how to quickly adjust your psychological state? Ding Junhui has won 14 ranking championships and certainly knows how to quickly adjust after winning the championship.
Secondly, at the technical level, Ding Junhui's control of the mother ball is also worthy of Zhao Xintong's careful study. Perhaps in the process of mutual communication, Ding Junhui can also find inspiration to get out of the trough.
Ding Junhui will not give up easily, it is reported that in addition to signing up for a single limited time competition, Ding Junhui has an important decision, that is, to register for the Champions League again after three years, although it is an invitational tournament, but at present, Ding Junhui needs more formal competitions to find a feel, which shows that he is still very enterprising. Ding Junhui will enter the sixth group, and the opponents in the same group include Yan Bingtao and Rich Walton, hoping that he will find his touch soon, after all, he is still the target of our young players!