On March 1, 2022, Beijing time, the first day of competition at the Snooker Welsh Open was launched, and in the postponement of the qualification round, three Chinese players successfully advanced, namely Zhang Anda, Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong. Zhang Anda eliminated seeded player Anthony McGill, Zhao Xintong eliminated the famous oliver Lanes 4-1, and Yan Bingtao fought hard for 7 sets to win 4-3 against Ashley Hegel and struggled to qualify for the main tournament.
The first match day was mainly a postponement of the qualifiers for seeded players, including two of our Chinese seeded players, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao. Zhao Xintong's opponent is Oliver Lanes, in the game, Zhao Xintong showed a good offensive state, he played a single shot of 101 points, 56 points, 115 points, easily defeated Oliver Lanes 4-1 to advance to the main game. Zhao Xintong will play Jack Jones in the first round of the main tournament.
Yan Bingtao experienced a bitter battle, he led 2-1, 3-2, but was dragged into the decider by Ashley Hegel. In the last moment, Yan Bingtao was still a skilled player, he played a single shot of 71 points, eliminated the opponent 4-3, and advanced to the main game. Yan Bingtao will play against Zhao Jianbo in the first round of the main tournament, during this time, Yan Bingtao lost to Zhao Xintong and Fan Zhengyi in the derby, this time facing Zhao Jianbo, what kind of answer can Yan Bingtao hand over?
In addition to Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao advancing to the main competition, there is another Chinese player who created a surprise, that is, Zhang Anda. In the previous European Masters, Zhang Anda lost to O'Sullivan 4-5, and that match should have given him some self-confidence. Facing Anthony McGill, Anda Zhang shot a three-shot 50+, and he completed the reversal after falling behind 2-3 to advance to the regular game 4-3, which is also a big upset. Anda Will face Mark Joyce in the first round of the main tournament.
In other matches, Chen Zifan lost 1-4 to Mark Selby, and world number one Selby shot a three-shot 60+ to win easier, and Selby will play Against Highfield in the first round of the regular tournament. Pang Junxu against Higgins, after the opening, Pang Junxu played a single 63 points and 56 points in a row, but the score was 1-1, and in the second set, Pang Junxu played a single 56 points, but was reversed by Higgins's single 50 points, losing the second set 70-71, which was particularly demoralizing.
Subsequently, Higgins scored 113, 56 and 89 consecutive singles to eliminate Pang Junxu 4-1 and advance to the main game. The winning Higgins will face Wahdi in the first round of the regular season.
Overall, the Chinese players performed well, the young players showed a good mental outlook, I believe that Fan Zhengyi just won the championship will also inspire us Chinese players, looking forward to their good results in the Welsh Open!