A few days ago, the semi-finals of the 2022 World Snooker European Masters ended fierce competition, and China's post-00s young player Fan Zhengyi continued to play the role of a dark horse, after 10 rounds of hard fighting, defeated the previous world championship champion Dort and entered the ranking final for the first time in his career. In the final, he will compete with world champion "Rocket" O'Sullivan for the title. Fan Zhengyi's eye-catching performance has allowed China's snooker to show a talent blowout situation again after last season. In 2021, Yan Bingtao won the Masters championship for the first time, and then Zhao Xintong won the championship in the British Championship, coupled with Si Jiahui and other young players who repeatedly reversed the world's famous players, China's snooker ushered in another peak.
At this European Masters, Fan Zhengyi was generally not optimistic before the game, and in his career resume, there were no eye-catching results. Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong and other main players are the focus of everyone's attention. From the first round of the competition, Fan Zhengyi showed a good state, and in the quarter-finals, he beat The Chinese snooker brother Yan Bingtao in the derby, which made many viewers shout "incredible". After entering the quarterfinals, Fan Zhengyi completely entered his own rhythm.
In the semi-finals, facing Scottish post-70s veteran Graham Dort, Fan Zheng dared to fight, whether the score was in the lead or behind, he always calmly confronted the opponent. In the game, Fan Zhengyi gave many wonderful defenses to the audience, and even the opponents nodded their heads in affirmation. Advancing to the final of the ranking tournament for the first time in his career is a special moment for Fan Zhengyi. He said in an interview that being able to play so well is inseparable from his years of hard work and experience accumulation, and the victory of this game will be the best memory of his career.
Talking about the final with O'Sullivan, Fan Zhengyi said that there is no pressure in the championship and runner-up battle, and the opponent is the world's first, world champion, and one of his idols. I hope I can play at the level in the final and learn more from O'Sullivan. After Fan Zhengyi entered the final, many domestic netizens lamented that China's snooker can be regarded as the team with the most rapid development momentum in recent years. 2 years ago, Ding Junhui still sat firmly in the top position of the Chinese team, and in just two years, the new generation of players represented by Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Fan Zhengyi, Si Jiahui and others have caught up with the pace of big brother and successfully taken over the baton.
At present, in the world snooker arena, the world's first Selby state is good and bad, O'Sullivan has a limited number of "chicken blood", Murphy is called a "paper tiger", Higgins is difficult to return to the peak, which is an excellent time for the young players of China Snooker to fight for the championship of major competitions. Previously, Yan Bingtao had won the Masters championship, while Zhao Xintong was in the British Championship to the end, lifting the championship trophy for the first time in his career. This time the European Masters, can Fan Zhengyi steal the championship from O'Sullivan?
(Luo Treasurer)