On January 4, 2022, the snooker Champions League entered a white-hot stage, the third group competition was fierce, two Chinese players Zhao Xintong and Xiao Guodong locked in the semi-finals in advance, Zhao Xintong won four consecutive wins, Xiao Guodong played one more round of 4 wins and 1 loss, no matter what the next results of the two, there was no problem, Xiao Guodong fell behind 0-2 to win three consecutive sets, and staged a big reversal in the derby against Lu Ning.
The 32-year-old Xiao Guodong has twice won the ranking runner-up, losing to Ding Junhui and McGill, currently his world ranking is 30th, just this season he blasted the first 147 of his career, becoming the sixth Chinese player to do this, Zhao Xintong gave up the qualification for the second group, Xiao Guodong was shortlisted as a substitute, and finally won the fifth place, entering the next group to continue the game.
On the first match day, Xiao Guodong won 2 wins and 1 loss, only lost to Zhao Xintong in the decider, the fourth round against his friend Lu Ning, the two sides have met three times, Xiao Guodong won a full victory, just last year's German Masters, Xiao Guodong eliminated Lu Ning 5-4, the comprehensive strength is still better.
The group stage is 5 sets of 3 wins, the final calculation of the total score, the top four players to advance, the first set of Lu Ning played a single shot of 87 points to take the lead first, the second set of Lu Ning took advantage of the chase, seized Xiao Guodong's simple mistake, played a single 69 points to expand the lead, the third set Xiao Guodong stabilized the position, blasted out a single shot 131 points also in color, the fourth set Xiao Guodong won another set at 67-1, the two sides played a draw.
In the decider, Lu Ning's defense was not in place and directly missed the ball, Xiao Guodong seized the opportunity, blasted out a single shot of 117 points to end the game, 0-2 behind to complete the big reversal, 3-2 victory over Lu Ning, this game is very exciting, the four sets are single shot wins, Xiao Guodong's overall performance is more stable.
Fifth round against Ryan. Dai, who is ranked 26th in the world, has won the ranking tournament three times, and the last two encounters have been won by Xiao Guodong, and after the game began, Ryan. Dai scored just three points before making a mistake, Xiao Guodong took a single shot with 113 points to take the lead, and in the second set Ryan. Dai scored a single 40 points to turn into the defense, and Xiao Guodong completed the super point twice to win another set at 69-41.
Next Ryan. Dai scored a single 89 points to chase back a set, and in the fourth set Xiao Guodong scored first, but there was no color ball to continue the attack, only to turn to the defense, and then Ryan. Dai missed the ball again, xiao Guodong blasted a single shot of 112 points to end the game, 3-1 light Ryan. Dai, after Zhao Xintong, became the second player to advance to the final four of the group, and exploded four shots in the two rounds of group matches.
In the end, Xiao Guodong played against the world's number one Selby, no matter what the result, he can advance to the semi-finals, but for Selby, whether he can beat Xiao Guodong is crucial, let us continue to look forward to the performance of Chinese players.