On January 5, 2022, the semi-final of the third group of the Snooker Champions League ended, Zhao Xintong won Bingham again, Hao won seven consecutive wins to advance, Xiao Guodong defeated Selby in a cold way, and then regardless of the result, a Chinese player was determined in advance to stand out, Zhao Xintong's performance was better, but Xiao Guodong was also very strong, especially after winning Selby, confidence increased, both had a chance.
Zhao Xintong and Bingham ranked relatively close, Zhao Xintong 9th, Bingham 12th, career record each other win-win, Bingham won the World Championship, Masters champion, Zhao Xintong won the British Championship last year, in the previous group stage, Zhao Xintong 3-1 victory over Bingham, both sides have strong personal ability, but the recent performance of Zhao Xintong is more prominent.
Semi-final 5 sets of 3 wins, the first set Bingham to take a 67-8 lead, there are 59 points on the table, Zhao Xintong twice started to complete the clearance, the two sides equally reset the black ball to decide, Zhao Xintong's defense is still lacking stability, Bingham scored a 74-67 narrow win, the second set Zhao Xintong seized on Bingham's mistake, blasted out a single shot 138 points also in color, the average time to play less than 17 seconds, this time the clearance is extremely ornamental.
In the third set, Zhao Xintong continued to suppress Bingham, through the bench hand, played a single 92 points to win another round, but unfortunately the position almost failed to complete the break of 100, the fourth set Zhao Xintong played a single shot 48 points to interrupt the attack, Bingham did not win with a single shot, and finally Zhao Xintong ended the game with 70-22, and finally defeated Bingham 3-1, winning seven consecutive wins to advance to the third group final, the performance was too strong.
Xiao Guodong and Selby are old rivals, although there is no advantage in the past record, but it is not an absolute disadvantage, Selby ranks first in the world, has won 20 ranking championships, won the World Championship championship four times, he has won nine of the three major competitions, Xiao Guodong has no champion, currently in the 30th place, in the group stage Xiao Guodong 0-3 defeated Selby, the comprehensive strength gap is large, short-term system has the opportunity.
After the game began, Xiao Guodong took the lead, played a single 70 points to turn into the defense, Selby repeatedly completed the clearance, both sides are 74 points, can only reset the black ball, Xiao Guodong is more accurate, scored to 81-74 narrowly won, the second set Selby played a single 24 points to choose defense, the two sides engaged in a long struggle, the result Xiao Guodong directly leaked the ball, Selby seized the opportunity to play a single 97 points equalizer.
Next Xiao Guodong played a single shot 52 points to interrupt the attack, in the subsequent defensive competition Xiao Guodong once again started to complete the clearance, played a single shot 79 points to take the lead, in the fourth set Xiao Guodong scored 32 points, did not force the attack, but chose to defend, Selby again made mistakes, Xiao Guodong played a single shot 89 points to lock the victory, and finally defeated Selby 3-1, advancing to the final and then fighting Zhao Xintong.