On February 9, 2022, Beijing time, the snooker Players Championship ended the second matchday competition, and the top seed Zhao Xintong lost to Barry Hawkins and missed the quarterfinals. Originally, everyone expected Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao to meet in the second round, but Zhao Xintong dropped the chain, and the 21-year-old Yan Bingtao could only fight alone, and then hit the final four or even the champion.
The Players Championship is contested by the top 16 players in a single season, zhao Xintong won the British Championship and the German Masters championship, ranking high in the single season, and he played as the number one seed in this tournament. In the first round against Barry Hawkins, Zhao Xintong was of course more optimistic, because his accuracy and continuous scoring ability were above his opponents, and he had also beaten Barry Hawkins in the British Championship before.
However, Zhao Xintong made too many mistakes, and several of them were reversed by Barry Hawkins while leading. Zhao Xintong is very confident in himself, but at some moments in the choice of offensive timing, Zhao Xintong still has deficiencies, blindly hitting the combination ball, the ninth set of adventure to turn over the bag, Zhao Xintong did not get the results he wanted, but showed flaws. Barry Hawkins played normally, receiving many big gifts, defeating Zhao Xintong 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Zhao Xintong has participated in the World Grand Prix and Players Championship as the top seed in a row, but all have suffered a round trip, as O'Sullivan said, he is full of talent and has a strong ability to score consecutively, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in defense and control of details. Zhao Xintong accidentally dropped the chain, and the second round could not see the Chinese derby, but the 21-year-old Yan Bingtao was becoming more and more stable.
Facing David Gilbert in the first round, Yan Bingtao fully displayed his offensive talents, playing 100 points, 80 points, 66 points, 135 points, 123 points in a row, and took a 5-1 lead after the end of the first six innings, it can be said that Yan Bingtao comprehensively suppressed David Gilbert. Although David Gilbert chased three consecutive sets, Yan Bingtao withstood the pressure and won the tenth set with 59 points in a single shot, eliminating David Gilbert 6-4.
Yan Bingtao will play Barry Hawkins in the second round, and the hope of advancing to the final four is very large, while the other quarter-final in the first half is Rich Walton vs. Mark Williams, Yan Bingtao's hope of impacting the final is very large. Consecutive losses to Zhao Xintong in the German Masters and the Champions League, this time failed to face Zhao Xintong, for Yan Bingtao is also a good opportunity to impact the championship, I hope he can seize it!