On the evening of February 3, Beijing time, the snooker 2022 Champions League finals officially began to compete, and the Chinese rising star Zhao Xintong, who had just won the second professional title a few days ago, was in a confrontation with scottish wizard John F. Kennedy. Higgins did not perform well in his first group match and eventually lost to the opponent in the group stage.
When the popular young student Zhao Xintong once encountered Higgins at this season's British Championship, once 3-5 behind the opponent in three consecutive sets, removing the biggest obstacle on the road to winning the first professional crown.
But soon, Higgins raised his guard, and in the first round of the Masters soon after, Higgins showed great strength and swept Zhao Xintong out of the game with an aggregate score of 6-2.
In addition, Higgins had a good hand in the seventh group of the previous matchday, and has accumulated 7 shots in 8 matches to break the hundred, and won the group championship by beating Ding Junhui 3-2 on aggregate in the group final.
Moreover, Higgins won the first group game in the group stage after falling behind 0-2 in this round of derby, reversing compatriot Dortmund 3-2 on aggregate.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Xintong's performance in this Champions League is even more outstanding, in the 3rd group with Selby's participation, Zhao Xintong and the British Championship champion Yu Wei won the group championship in one fell swoop with a record of eight wins and eight wins of "undefeated golden body".
In this campaign, Higgins gained the upper hand with a tight safety ball, seized on Zhao Xintong's mistakes, and won the first 1-0 79:0 through multiple starts.
In the second set, Higgins continued to control the situation on the court, taking a 2-0 lead by scoring twice and playing a single 50+ to keep a clean sheet.
In the 3rd set, Zhao Xintong finally seized the opportunity, scored into the far platform, and K scattered the red ball pile, and countered the single 70+ to win back a 1-2 set.
In the end, Higgins ended the match 3-1 on aggregate and ended Zhao Xintong's Champions League record of eight games and eight victories, winning the second victory of the group stage.
After the end of this game, Zhao Xintong will fight consecutively, and his second opponent is the "second brother" Bingham, who killed Yan Bingtao 3-2 in the first round of the group stage.