On the morning of January 10 and the following day, the results of the second matchday of the Masters were announced. Hawkins eliminated Murphy 6-2 to advance to the top 8, and China's youngster Zhao Xintong lost to Higgins and was eliminated 6-2. In this Masters Tournament, there are two players in China, in addition to Zhao Xintong, who lost today, Yan Bingtao also lost to Mark Williams yesterday, and both sides traveled. The two young players also need to hone themselves well and consolidate their strength.
Zhao Xintong is a post-90s player, this season's British Championship, he defeated Lucca to win the championship, the world ranking rose to ninth place, the ranking for the first time in his career into the TOP16, he is also the first player after the 90s to win the Masters championship.
Higgins has won 31 ranking tournaments and is sixth in the world. Zhao Xintong has played with Higgins 7 times in the past, and the last three encounters have been won by Zhao Xintong. But Higgins has reached the final many times this season, and although he is unlucky enough to always get runners-up, it is not difficult to see that Higgins is still stronger in terms of overall strength.
In the first round of the game, Zhao Xintong was not in the state, and Higgins blasted a single shot of 100 points to take a 1-0 lead. In the second set, which was also Zhao Xintong's only highlight inning, he scored a single 128 points to strongly pull the score to a 1-1 draw. In the third set, Higgins unhurriedly piecemealed the lead to lead again at 88-0, bringing the score to 2-1. In the fourth set, the situation on the court was very sticky, there was no chance of consecutive scoring between each other, and under several attacks and defenses, Higgins took the initiative, winning another set 59-19 and taking a 3-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, zhao Xintong took the lead in organizing the attack after a short break, but unfortunately the effect was not good. Higgins seized the opportunity to play, winning another set with 104 points to continue extending the advantage to 4-1. In the sixth set, Zhao Xintong still did not have a good state, and could have eaten points around the color ball, but the white ball was not in a good position. But Higgins also did not have a good scoring opportunity, and after several attacks and defenses, Zhao Xintong pulled back a set at 64-13, and the score came to 4-2.
In the seventh set, the two sides once again glued up, Zhao Xintong failed to take the opportunity, Higgins hit the set 68-8, 5-2 led 3 sets to the individual match point. In the eighth set, Higgins did not give Zhao Xintong another chance to struggle, with a single shot 78 points, 117-0 clean sheet Zhao Xintong won the eighth set, while winning the game 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Zhao Xintong participated in the Masters for the first time, I believe that in my heart to give myself high expectations, this tragic round of travel, but also to remind him that a temporary achievement does not represent anything, down-to-earth self-improvement, there will be a more stable play. However, although the young generals of the younger generation, Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong, are not as brilliant as Director Ding's youth, but their names appear at the same time in TOP16, which still makes Xiaobian feel proud and proud. In time, I believe that teenagers will become better selves.