On February 27, 2022, Beijing time, the snooker European Masters ended the sixth matchday competition, Fan Zhengyi eliminated Graeme Dort, the first time in his career to reach the final of the ranking competition, will compete with O'Sullivan for the championship. After the game, Fan Zhengyi said that he trained with Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao every day, which was the key to progress.
In the past two seasons, although Ding Junhui is in a sluggish state, the young Chinese players have performed well, and the representative figures are of course Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong. Yan Bingtao has already won the ranking championship, and last season won the Masters championship, and the young Chinese players have made major breakthroughs in the three competitions. This was followed by Zhao Xintong, who has won two ranking championships this season, including one of the three major competitions in the British Championship, which is surprising.
Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao trained together, inspired each other, and improved together, and there was a young Chinese player next to them, that is, 21-year-old Fan Zhengyi. Before, Fan Zhengyi's results were mediocre and he received a lot of criticism, but he has been training hard, during this time, Fan Zhengyi's training time is more than 6 hours a day, the intensity is very large, and he will soon have gains.
In this European Masters, Fan Zhengyi made a series of unpopular players, he eliminated seeded players Karen Wilson and Yan Bingtao, and defeated David Gilbert in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals, facing former world champion Graeme Dort, Fan Zhengyi scored a one-shot breaker and a three-shot 50+ to win 6-4 and advance to the final.
Fan has had a series of breakthroughs in his career, starting with the defeat of Graeme Dort, the first time he has beaten a player with a world championship title. Secondly, Fan Zhengyi reached the final of the ranking tournament for the first time and had the opportunity to win the first ranking championship of his career. Before participating in the European Masters, Fan Zhengyi was ranked 80th in the world, and after reaching the final, the ranking soared to 62, and the pressure on relegation was greatly alleviated.
After the match, Fan Zhengyi said that he performed very well, defeated several excellent players, and played O'Sullivan in the final of a major event, which is a dream come true. In addition, Fan Zhengyi also revealed that he trained with Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao every day, which made him progress.
Many fans said that Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao, Fan Zhengyi became the trident of China's snooker, the three young players trained together, broke through together, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao have championship titles, which is bound to inspire Fan Zhengyi and also launch an impact on the championship. Regardless of the outcome against O'Sullivan, the young player has completed his metamorphosis and the champions are already beckoning to him.
Congratulations to China Snooker, the new generation of players continue to improve, China Snooker is getting stronger and stronger!