At present, the Masters, one of the three major competitions of snooker, is in full swing. For Chinese fans, the most concerned is naturally the two Chinese players Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong. As the defending champion, Yan Bingtao has attracted more attention than Zhao Xintong. However, Yan Bingtao's Trip to the Masters and last season's Masters Tour are two completely different experiences. Last season, he competed for the first time, and directly defeated the famous Higgins in the final to win the championship, becoming the first post-00 player to win three major championships. But this time, Yan Bingtao, who participated as the defending champion, directly staged a round of travel, and the first round declared the defense failure. Interestingly, mark Williams, the world star who defeated him, directly named his old rival Higgins when predicting his opponents in the second round after the game. You know, Higgins' opponent in the first round is Zhao Xintong, the champion of the new Keying Championship. What makes Mark Williams hope to meet a rival of Higgins, not Zhao Xintong?
Mark Williams' opponent in the first round was Chinese player and defending champion Yan Bingtao, although Mark Williams was much more famous than Yan Bingtao. However, the players participating in the Masters are all strong, and no one can underestimate anyone. At the beginning of the game, the defending champion Yan Bingtao entered the state relatively early, leading 3:1 with a big score. However, Mark Williams's strength was not blown, and then he launched a counterattack, and finally won by a large score of 6:4, while taking the lead in advancing to the top 8, he also eliminated the defending champion Yan Bingtao, who also became the 13th defending champion to be eliminated in the first game of the Masters.
Once Mark Williams reached the quarterfinals, he cared about his next opponent. According to the schedule, his next round opponent is the winner between the world champion, veteran Higgins and xinkeying championship champion, Chinese player Zhao Xintong. In the post-match interview, when talking about the next round of opponents, he directly named Higgins, saying that he would prefer to play Higgins rather than Zhao Xintong. In the eyes of many, perhaps this is Mark Williams's disregard for The Chinese player Zhao Xintong. But is this really the case?
Mark Williams is a world veteran, but also a veteran. This season's Masters is his 24th appearance. In 1998, he defeated Hendry, the "Emperor of Billiards", to win the Masters championship for the first time. In 2003, he once again won the Masters. In recent years, although his strength is still there, his energy and attention have inevitably dropped a lot compared to before. In addition, he is also infected by gout and some viruses, and his physical quality is not as good as before, so he wants to go further in the competition, and the difficulty is indeed greater.
Compared with Zhao Xintong, Higgins should be an ideal opponent for him. The two are similar in age and similar in strength. Most importantly, Mark Williams wants to replicate the scene from the 2018 World Championships victory. At that time, he met Higgins in the final, and the two played a high-gold final. Of course, the last laugh was Mark Williams. So, it's only natural that he wants his opponent in the next round to be a veteran like Higgins.
However, one of the most important reasons why he did not want to choose Zhao Xintong may really be to show weakness. Facing Zhao Xintong, who is only 24 years old, Mark Williams is not too dominant in other aspects except in terms of experience. After Zhao Xintong won the British Championship, the whole person felt different from before. The temperament and confidence of the game have been greatly improved. In the Champions League, Zhao Xintong won the group championship with a record 8 consecutive wins and entered the winners' group. Among the defeated players here are the world's number one Selby, former world champion Bingham and other famous players, with a lot of gold content. At this stage, Zhao Xintong should be said to be in a very good state. Coupled with the fact that he is only 24 years old, it is a very energetic stage, and veterans like Mark Williams will inevitably suffer some losses against him. Therefore, Mark Williams would rather choose the more famous Higgins than meet Zhao Xintong, who is now popular.