On January 10, 2022, the snooker Masters continued, two Chinese players were out, Higgins eliminated Zhao Xintong 6-2, becoming the third player to advance to the quarterfinals, this time Ding Junhui did not qualify, Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao joined hands to play, by the fans expectations, the result both stopped in the first round, it turns out that their comprehensive strength is still poor, there is room for improvement in many aspects.
Zhao Xintong is 24 years old, ranked 9th in the world, just last year's British Championship he won the championship, creating history to become the first post-90s British Championship champion, after Ding Junhui the second Chinese player to win the championship in the British Championship, it is worth mentioning that before Zhao Xintong once played in the Champions League, won eight consecutive victories to advance to the winner group, the state is really good, this is Zhao Xintong's first time to participate in the Masters, ushered in the test.
Higgins, 46 years old, ranked 6th in the world, is a legend in snooker history, who has won the ranking tournament 31 times, and has reached the final four times this season, only to lose all the games and finish runner-up, although Higgins's overall performance is more stable, but it has not been able to compete with O'Sullivan, Mark. Williams also seized the opportunity, and this year's Masters Higgins is the big favourite to win the championship.
The two have met seven times in their careers, Zhao Xintong has a slight advantage of 4 wins and 3 losses, the last three encounters zhao Xintong won all, just last year's British Championship, Zhao Xintong reversed Higgins 6-5, overall Higgins is stronger, Zhao Xintong can do is to go all out to fight.
Masters first round 11 innings 6 wins, the first set Zhao Xintong only scored 6 points on the error, Higgins on the hand to blast out a single shot 100 points to take the lead, Zhao Xintong is not willing to show weakness, blasted out a single shot 128 points also in color, the third set Zhao Xintong did not score, Higgins played steadily, won another set at 88-0, the fourth set of the two sides made mistakes, Higgins won the fight 59-19, Zhao Xintong's defense was not good.
After returning from the halftime, Zhao Xintong failed to seize the opportunity after scoring a goal, giving a big gift to the opponent, Higgins blasted out a single shot of 104 points to expand the lead, in the sixth set Zhao Xintong stopped the loss in time, repeatedly started 64-13 to win a set, the seventh set Zhao Xintong made a mistake again, Higgins won 68-8, 5-2 match points, and then Higgins twice ended the game, eliminating Zhao Xintong to advance to the quarterfinals.
Although Zhao Xintong has a good single-shot winning ability, his handling of the chaos is still much worse, and the defense needs to be improved, the first 1/4 final match is out, Higgins 64th career against Mark. Williams, 75, met again, vying for a place in the final four, and in the second round of last year's World Championships, Higgins lost to Mark. Williams, this time who can qualify for both sides is looking forward to.