On February 8, 2022, the snooker player tournament continued, China's zhao Xintong lost to Hawkins 3-6, was eliminated in the first round, Zhao Xintong was in a sluggish state, there were too many simple mistakes, the success rate of the long platform declined, and more importantly, hawkins' defensive quality was indeed too high, this aspect is Zhao Xintong's shortcomings, the process is worth summarizing, and then Zhao Xintong will participate in the Welsh Open.
Zhao Xintong ranked 8th in the world, he is the only Chinese player in the top ten, just this season, Zhao Xintong has won consecutive British Championship and German Masters championships, successfully cashed in his talents, created new history, the first round against Hawkins, the latter ranked 11th in the world, three times in his career to win the ranking championship, Hawkins is a regular in the final four of the competition, this year won the Masters runner-up.
The two have met 6 times in their careers, Zhao Xintong 4 wins and 2 losses to occupy the advantage, just last year's British Championships, Zhao Xintong swept Hawkins 6-1 to advance to the final, and finally defeated the Belgian player Brechel to win the championship, Zhao Xintong's single-shot winning ability is very strong, the ornamentation is very high, but the defense needs to be strengthened, the handling of the chaos needs to be improved, Hawkins is experienced, is a particularly difficult opponent.
The first round of the Players Tournament was 6 wins in 11 innings, hawkins scored a single 63 points in the first set to take the lead at 74-0, Zhao Xintong was still a defensive problem in the second set, hawkins seized the opportunity to play a single 91 points to win another round, the third set Zhao Xintong stabilized his position, repeatedly played 70-5 to chase back a set, and then Zhao Xintong played a single 34 points to interrupt the attack, Hawkins played a single shot 94 points, 3-1 lead.
Through the offensive and defensive battles between the two sides, it is not difficult to see that Zhao Xintong still has not found a rhythm that suits him, Hawkins is in a very good state, not only the quality of defense is very high, but also can achieve a single shot victory, without too many simple mistakes, which leads to Zhao Xintong being very passive.
Back at halftime, Zhao Xintong played a single 90 points to chase back a set, the sixth set of two people each scored 57 points, Hawkins defense quality is higher, to win this round at 81-57, and then Zhao Xintong is not willing to show weakness, played a single 62 points to chase back a set, the eighth set Zhao Xintong took the lead, played a single 49 points to interrupt the attack, Hawkins seized the opportunity, played a single 71 points, 5-3 first to get the match point.
Next Hawkins got 32 points to choose defense, the two sides engaged in a long defensive battle, Zhao Xintong missed the ball again, Hawkins played a single shot of 50 points, ended the game with 82-0, and finally eliminated Zhao Xintong 6-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the players championship, this result is not unexpected, the comprehensive strength of the two is relatively close, but Zhao Xintong's defense is still a big gap compared with Hawkins.