The 2022 Snooker Gibraltar Open kicked off today. The race was arguably very tough, with flight delays due to severe storms in the Strait of Gibraltar, resulting in massive withdrawals. Many Chinese players have also been recruited, and many Chinese players such as Xu Si, Si Jiahui, Wu Yize, Li Xing and so on have withdrawn from the competition.
O'Sullivan was on the same flight as Cao Yupeng, Tachaia, Wafi and others, and the plane hovered over Gibraltar for more than an hour and could not land, but had to be diverted to Malaga, Spain, and some players were repatriated to the United Kingdom because they did not have an advance Schengen visa. After a series of twists and turns, Zhao Xintong and others finally arrived safely.
At the Gibraltar Open, three rounds will be held on the first two matchdays, with the top 16 players deciding the winner on the last matchday. The match was played in a 7-game, 4-win format. The number of tables will be determined at the end of each session. In other games that have ended, Jordan Brown eliminated his opponent O'Donnell 4-0, Dominique Dell lost 2-4 to Hayscot, Dahdy eliminated his opponent 4-0, and Jones also took a ride, and the opponent withdrew and directly advanced.
On the side of the Chinese players, Xiao Guodong eliminated Devlin 4-2 to advance, and Zhang Anda had a thrilling and 4-3 victory over Hawkins. Director Ding won the match 4-0 to advance. Zhao Xintong won 4-1 in the match against opponent Clark.
In the first set, Zhao Xintong made a mistake after scoring 53 points. Clark came in, taking the lead at 66-53. In the second set, Zhao Xintong interrupted the attack after a single shot of 57 points, Clark failed to seize the opportunity, Zhao Xintong started again, 74-29 to equalize the score. In the third set, Zhao Xintong played steadily and won the score 2-1. In the fourth set, Zhao Xintong started, single shot 101 points, 3-1 to the match point. In the fifth set, Clark took the lead in organizing the attack to score 44 points, and after Zhao Xintong started, The bench played an advantage, winning the game 71-44 and eliminating the opponent 4-1 to advance.