It's been a while since the 2021 Snooker World Grand Prix is over, and after the New Year's Day holiday, a new series of events is about to begin. The first to arrive is the Masters from January 9 to January 16. Two players from China participated, namely Yan Bingtao, who won last season's Masters championship, and Zhao Xintong, the winner of this season's British Championship.
Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao have always been recognized by fans as "Ding Junhui's successor", and now the two are also living up to expectations, one won the Masters laurel, and the other lifted the British Championship championship trophy. Both are from CBSA World Snooker College, vividly explaining what is called, "Today you are proud of the Academy, tomorrow the Academy is proud of you"
Yan Bingtao won the championship with a 10-8 elimination of Higgins in the last season, and as a new champion, he is still attracting much attention this time, but Higgins, who unfortunately won the runner-up, is also in the spotlight. Higgins has gone crazy this season, losing four times in the finals. His opponent in the first round of the Masters is Zhao Xintong, a young player who has just won the British Championship. The two sides have played each other 7 times in the past, and Zhao Xintong has a slight advantage with 4 wins and 3 losses.
The Masters is the only invitational tournament of the three tournaments, with only top 16 players eligible to participate. Zhao Xintong broke into the top 16 for the first time in the world ranking after winning the British Championship, so this is also his first time to participate in the Masters, which is not a small pressure for him. He and Yan Bingtao, aged 24 and 21, are the two youngest players in this Masters. What's even more interesting is that if the two go well, then the two will have a good chance of being in the quarter-finals.
However, promotion is also a big challenge for Yan Bingtao, and his opponent in the first round is Mark Williams. The two sides have met five times in the past, with Mark Williams taking a slight advantage with 3 wins and 2 losses. Let's look forward to the two youngsters to surprise everyone once again.
The Masters signing table is as follows, with a schedule for the next tournament.