On Sunday night, Wangharuthai, nicknamed "Mink", won the women's World Snooker Championship for the first time and earned professional qualification for the next two years. While Snooker "Queen" Evans is very optimistic about Wanghalutai's prospects, she is also a reminder of the cruelty of the professional tour to the beginning of the career of the new champion.
文/Phil Haigh，《Metro》
The 22-year-old Wanghalutai, who was trailing 3-5, scored the last black ball in the decider to dramatically beat Belgian Wendy Janes 6-5.
With Wanghalutai leading the innings, Janes was able to clear the table with a single snooker in the decider. After scoring the colored balls on the table in turn, facing the last black ball with greater difficulty, Janes did not score and left the black ball to the opponent, and Wangharutai withstood the pressure and scored the black ball in one fell swoop to win the final victory.
At the 2019 Women's World Snooker Championships, Wangharuthai lost to experienced Ryan Evans in the final. Through many battles, Evans was well aware of Wanghalutai's potential.
Evans said: "She always had the potential to be a winner. Her playing technique is good. We all have different ways of playing, different goalscoring options, which can all be improved, but it's a reflection of our different styles. ”
"She has a bright future and it's not surprising to me that she won the World Championships."
In 2019, Wanghalutai became the first female player to score 147 points, enough to show her scoring ability. However, she scored only 32 points in the final of the World Championships, which is far from her best level. In contrast, Evans also said that the victory in the World Championship final also showed another side of Wangharute's scoring ability.
"As long as you play well and score points, anyone can become a champion." But you must constantly push yourself, always maintain a high morale, and not give up is victory. In some ways, you have to acknowledge that winning and losing in competitive sports is the norm, and a never-say-die mentality is the most important. She was still so young, with her own strength, she did everything she had to do for the victory. ”
With the World Championship winning, Wangharuthai will compete in the professional arena next season with Evans and Wu Anyi. So far this season, however, neither Evans nor Wu Anyi has won the tour, and Evans thinks Wangharuthai, who is about to enter the profession, may also face such a dilemma.
"I think like any newcomer to the Tour for the first time, she's going to struggle. The Tour is much tougher than one might think, and even low-ranking players should not be underestimated. ”
"When you lose to a guy, people wonder', 'Who is that?' I've never heard of them'. But they're just that good, not to mention the top players. Players who can be at the top of the tour are bound to be proud of their own strength. ”
"It's all about experience, and I hope Wu Anyi and I can get something out of this first year." Wangharuthai has a huge backer base behind her, so I think it's a very good advantage for her. ”
Evans also had a lot of fun on the Pro Tour, but just after the debut and the heat of his match with ex-boyfriend Mark Allen at the British Open, Evans hasn's hadn't been ideal for most of the season, even a bit disappointing.
At the British Open in Leicester, when she lost to Allen by one goal, the noisy atmosphere on the pitch was very different from the silence of the qualifiers. But Evans knew she had to adapt to the snooker scene.
Evans said: "This [joining the pro] is a mixed blessing. When I first got the call, I thought I'd take it as a new beginning, a new challenge, and I had two years to prepare. But then I was a little disappointed with the schedule and the result. If you don't win the first round, there's a good chance you won't have a game to play in months. ”
"If you draw a top player at the British Championships, the next time you run into a player with a lower ranking, you think 'I need to win him', you put more pressure on yourself. For me, qualifying should be played a week before the main event, not a few months ago. The current schedule doesn't seem very reasonable, and hopefully next season will be better. ”