In the early morning of February 28, the 2022 Snooker European Masters came to an end, in the final final, China's 21-year-old rising star Fan Zhengyi challenged the "Rocket" O'Sullivan, and finally the two played 19 innings, Fan Zhengyi scored 92 points in a decider to complete the kill, won the championship with 10-9 "upset", and won his first ranking championship. Although O'Sullivan reached the final of the ranking tournament for the 60th time, he failed to win the 39th ranking championship and the 22nd ranking runner-up, chasing Higgins. O'Sullivan did not feel regret or chagrin when he lost to an opponent like Fan Zhengyi, but praised him after the game, saying that he performed better and deserved to win.
Born on January 27, 2001, Fan Zhengyi became famous very early and was once known as a "billiard prodigy". In 2017, he won the professional qualification with the amateur snooker World Youth Championship title, but at the end of the 2019 season, the inactive Fan Zhengyi was relegated to a disastrous relegation, and then he regained his professional qualification through professional qualification. At the beginning of the season, he was still in the downstream position and had a relegation crisis, but with the partners Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong who trained together, they had a breakthrough in performance, which stimulated him to a certain extent, and he began to break out in the middle of the season.
Not long ago, at the German Masters, he reached the top 8 in one fell swoop, setting a new career high. At the European Masters, he continued to maintain an excellent feel, successively defeating Karen Wilson, Yan Bingtao, Gilbert, Dort and other famous players, all the way to the final, continuing to refresh the ranking results to a new high. The duel with O'Sullivan is a direct dialogue between Fan Zhengyi and his idol, and the first meeting between the two in professional competitions, that is, the final of the ranking competition, is also quite exciting. In the end, Fan Zhengyi, who was not afraid of tigers, overturned his idol as he wished, and obtained a major breakthrough in his career.
After the game, Fan Zhengyi admitted that he could play against his idol O'Sullivan, just hoping to play every ball well, strive for more wins, don't lose too badly, but the result was won, naturally quite happy. And O'Sullivan gave full recognition to the team Fan Zhengyi, he has a good performance in the world, the ball and the attack, O'Sullivan said that he can only be a catcher, Fan Zhengyi deserves this victory. For the collective outbreak of Chinese youngsters, O'Sullivan praised them as inspiring each other, just like the famous players in the men's tennis world, which is a good thing for Chinese snooker players and even the sport of snooker, O'Sullivan admitted that it is a great honor to compete with a future world champion.
When Fan Zhengyi's competition came one after another, there was another person behind the scenes who continued to pay attention to his dynamics, she was Fan Zhengyi's girlfriend, currently in China' girlfriend, and Fan Zhengyi was considered a transnational love. For Fan Zhengyi's competition, she is always paying attention, and in the semi-finals, she posted "Cheer for Xiaoyi!" After winning the final, my girlfriend posted, "I've been watching the game!" So excited! The effort to fight for a baby has finally borne fruit! Congratulations on winning your first title! There are more difficulties waiting for you to overcome in the future! When interacting with netizens, the girlfriend said that she looked forward to seeing Fan Zhengyi at the end of the season, when the two would return to the UK together to continue the journey of the new season.