On January 4, 2022, Beijing time, the third group of the Snooker Champions League ended the first day of competition, and the upset became the main theme. World champion Bingham suffered three consecutive defeats, and the fourth round defeat of Ryan Day gave Bingham a face. Selby was also in average form, losing to Zhao Xintong and Ryan Day before defeating Bingham and Ronin. Both Bingham and Selby are likely to be eliminated early. China's Zhao Xintong played well, winning all 3 games and temporarily ranking first in the list.
The first game of 2022 is the Champions League, which is an invitational version, but it is still full of masters. In the third group, two world champions Selby and Bingham joined the game, Mark Williams, who had been in the invited list, unexpectedly withdrew, and Zhao Xintong was given the opportunity to participate as a substitute. With the addition of Lu Ning, Xiao Guodong, Joe Perry, Ryan Day, it can be said that the third group is fiercely competitive.
On the first matchday, the two world champions were in average form, notably Stuart Bingham, who lost 2-3 to Xiao Guodong, 1-3 to Zhao Xintong and 2-3 to Mark Selby, suffering three consecutive defeats. From the ranking and recent state, losing to Xiao Guodong is a big cold, but the 5-game 3-win system is indeed very variable, and the key to winning or losing is the on-the-spot state.
Selby first lost 3-0 to Zhao Xintong, then 2-3 to Ryan Day, the world's first two consecutive defeats, which is obviously a big cold. However, Selby went back in the game, beating Bingham 3-2 and Ronin 3-1 to temporarily finish third with a 2-2 loss. However, Selby only has two games left, and there are still many variables about whether they will be able to successfully enter the top four of the group.
Chinese players performed well, and Zhao Xintong, the champion of the Xinkeying Championship, was the representative figure. On the first match day, Zhao Xintong successively played against Selby, Bingham and Xiao Guodong, he still insisted on a fast playing style, the attack was particularly smooth, especially against Bingham, Zhao Xintong's average shot time was only 17.1 seconds, and he played a single shot of 73 points at a critical moment, which made Bingham convinced.
Zhao Xintong originally withdrew from the Champions League, but Mark Williams withdrew, giving Zhao Xintong the opportunity to play as a substitute. Before the Masters, Zhao Xintong was able to play several high-level short-term games, which helped him find his feel. Zhao Xintong's outstanding performance also makes us look forward to his Masters prospects even more.
At the end of the first matchday, Zhao Xintong ranked first with three consecutive wins, Xiao Guodong ranked second, Selby ranked third, and Lu Ning ranked fourth. World champion Bingham finished fifth with 1 win and 3 losses, while Joe Perry and Ryan Day finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Judging from the current situation, all three Chinese players are hoping to be in the top four of the group and thus compete for the winner's place. Previously, Liang Wenbo has taken the lead in qualifying for the winners' group, and looks forward to these Chinese players continuing to work hard and achieve good results!