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2021 There are still these races to remember
Earlier we reviewed the top ten snooker races of 2021. In addition, the following 6 games are believed to exist in the minds of fans - including Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong, two Chinese young players who won the championship in the three major competitions.
Yan Bingtao 10-8 John Higgins Masters Final
Yan Bingtao, 20, showed incredible maturity and sophistication against another outstanding master player in the snooker arena, and he is the most promising Chinese talent since Ding Junhui defeated six-time world champion Davis in 2005.
Higgins played his most exciting performance since reaching the final at the 2019 World Championships at the highly anticipated Masters, winning the highest single prize with 145 points and taking away a total of £115,000 , but he lost to the calm and calm Yan Bingtao. Yan Bingtao has both the safety ball skills of the old-school snooker and the ability to win in a slow pace.
If the Scots can seize those crucial opportunities, the title will belong to him, but there is no if. Higgins briefly led 5-3, 7-5, but ultimately let the victory slip away. Unlike the two-year championship final, which was swept by Trump 9-18, Higgins once had the lead, but he did not make a big splash.
Higgins failed to win the Masters after 15 years, and Yan Bingtao won the supreme event just four years after switching careers. Yan Bingtao was born in 2000, and when Higgins first reached the Masters in 1999, the Chinese teenager had not even been born. Yan became the youngest Masters champion since O'Sullivan won the title at the age of 19 in 1995, and only the sixth player to win the Title in his Masters debut.
'We've seen him under a lot of pressure and you have to hold the pressure to win at Crucible." O'Sullivan said, "I think he's going to get stronger and stronger." If he hadn't won one or two world titles, I would have been very surprised. ”
Zhao Xintong 10-5 Luca Brechel British Championship final
At the beginning of the year, Yan Bingtao dominated the Masters; at the end of the year, another Chinese talent, Zhao Xintong, cashed in on his full talent and sang all the way with a fearless offensive performance, and finally defeated Brechel 10-5 in the final to win the British Championship.
Zhao Xintong, 24, had his best ranking result before in the final of the 2018 China Championship, when he lost 4-6 to Selby in the semi-finals. He played with a modern snooker style, with an instinctive sense of smell for position, and staged extraordinary offensive performances.
Brave and composed, Zhao Xintong scored a single shot of 120, 99, 87, 79, 78, 61 and 56 in the final, lifting his first three-major championship trophy in the final of his first ranking competition.
"Still can't believe I won the British Championship. Thank you all for your tremendous support. I will continue to work hard and continue to bring you a good-looking snooker. ”
Looking back at Zhao Xintong's path to the championship, he defeated Tachaia on the last black ball in the second round of the decider, defeated Higgins 3-5 to 6-5 in the third round, followed by the quarter-final and semi-final victories over Sowski and Hawkins.
Scarlett 6-5 Sean Murphy First Round of the British Championship
Si Jiahui, a 19-year-old Chinese teenager, lost his professional qualification at the end of last season and could only participate as an amateur player in major competitions this season. He created the most brilliant moment of his career so far in the first round of the British Championships – a 6-5 elimination of 2021 World Championship runner-up Murphy.
Scarlett had a chance to win 6-1 but conceded a crucial blue ball. Murphy, the 2008 British Championship champion, once chased 5 draws, but also lost the blue ball in the decider, creating a big upset since the beginning of the British Championship.
Murphy has had a poor record this season, with a single-season ranking not yet in the top 32, with the Northern Ireland Open's quarter-finals being his best performance. After the game. Murphy's astonishing statement that "amateur players should not appear in professional games" immediately sparked a strong discussion. A few days later, Murphy said he shouldn't forget to praise Scarlett's performance:
"If I could go back to that time, maybe I wouldn't have said that after I just lost to Scarlett. I think these words took away the light of his victory, and I regret it. I would like to apologize to him for that. It was a great victory, and he played really well. He played better than me and deserved to win. ”
Scarlett won one crown and one runner-up in two Q Tours in 2021 and is expected to return to the profession in 2022.
Mark Allen 3-2 Renee Evans First Round of the British Open
Thirteen years ago, the two parted ways and ended a three-year relationship. Thirteen years later, the two met in a match that neither of them wanted to play — the two are currently fighting for custody of their 14-year-old daughter.
Time apparently didn't bridge the two men's differences, and during the 2021 World Championships, Allen took Evans, who was working for the TV station, out of the training ground on the grounds that her presence was distracting.
Before the game, Evans did not respond to Allen's request for a handshake. "Due to the epidemic and other reasons, I was told not to shake hands." Evans said.
Back in the game, Allen struggled to win the first inning, and Evans quickly returned the game with a 56 before heading to match point first. In the fourth set, Evans was infinitely close to victory after a single shot of 60 points, but he lost the winning red ball, and Allen scored 47 points to save the match point. In the decider, Allen showed off the style of a former Masters champion, winning the 68 points on the bench.
"It sucks, I really don't want to go through it again. She played some good balls under pressure, which put pressure on you because it requires your Ann Sphere to be impeccable, and my defense wasn't perfect that day. Unfortunately she didn't win 3-1 – I just wanted to play snooker. It's all over. Allen said.
Evans, who lost, said: "I'm very proud of myself, I adapted to the rhythm of the game, but the top players will do what they can and you have to respect. ”
Luka Brechel 9-5 John Higgins Scottish Open Final
The recovering, thinner Higgins may be the most consistent player of 2021, but the Wizard's magic doesn't seem to work in a few finals.
After losing the 2021 Masters final, Higgins won his 31st ranking title with a 10-3 victory over O'Sullivan in the Players' Championship final. He went on to reach the final four more times, but none won – including the Scottish Open final, a loss largely due to the start.
The 2017 Chinese Champion Brechel left behind the shadow of the final defeat at the British Championship a week ago, and scored a single shot of 127, 104, 96, 79, 64 and 61 points in the final to win the second title of the rankings. The Belgian, who at one point led 5-1, 8-2, withstood Higgins' counterattack at the end of the game and won the title in a stunning way.
"Everything is simple at the moment. You wonder why the sport is sometimes so tough. I'm glad I proved to everyone that I'm not the mediocre of the Tour and it's fantastic to win the title. ”
Mark Selby 17-15 Stuart Bingham World Championship Semifinals
On the way to winning a fourth world title, Selby had to stage a ferocious and fascinating battle in the semi-finals and 2015 World Championship champion Bingham, with the two even having to return to the game after the semi-finals of Murphy and Wilson.
Both sides showed extremely high scoring ability in the game, with Selby having two 134 points, one 132 points and one 125 points, in addition to a single 68, 62 points, two 52 points and one 51 points; Bingham played a single score of 131, 127, 100 points, then 96 points, 92 points, 85 points, 83 points, 82 points, 78 points, 68 points, 63 points, 62 points, 60 points, 54 points and two strokes 51 points. This bitter battle, which took 12 hours, is entirely likely to lead to a different ending.
After the loss, Bingham criticized some of Selby's performances, but the Sharks apologized afterwards. "I lost 15-17 when I shot a 50+ of 16. In the last stage, I lost too many balls. The pressure to impact the final is enormous, and the ball feels as if it were the final. It was hard to accept after the game. Afterwards I talked to Mark [Selby], including the post-match interview, and we had a great chat. It's really great to be in this great game, and it's sad not to make it to the final, but there's a lot of positives in the game itself. ”
"If you're someone who can afford to lose, a game like this won't mean so much to you. I think from what happens at the end of the game, you know how important this game is. Mark and I explained that it's really a little hard when you have to stand in front of the camera and turn your heart upside down. You may say something that makes you regret it. These words have existed in the long river of history, and you cannot change them. I was born for snooker, and I love snooker. If you really love it, then sometimes there are very primitive emotions that spring up. ”
2021 is over, and 2022 is slowly coming. What are your New Year's expectations regarding billiards? Share it with us in the comments section!