Gibraltar Open: Ding Junhui won three games in one day to advance to the round of 16! Zhao Xintong is out

2022-03-25 09:09:56

On 24 March 2022, the Snooker Gibraltar Open began. At present, a total of 26 players have withdrawn from the competition. On the first day of the battle, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, Karen Wilson, Lu Haotian and other eight players won three consecutive victories and took the lead in reaching the round of 16. Zhao Xintong lost in the second round, becoming the first player to withdraw from the £150,000 extra prize battle.

The frenzy of withdrawal from the Gibraltar Open has not stopped after the start of the tournament, due to various problems such as transportation and visas, Pang Junxu, Wu Yize, Scarlett, Gilbert, Wafi, Hamilton and many other players announced their withdrawal after the start of the competition. From the announcement of the signing form to the end of the first match day, a total of 26 players have announced their withdrawals, surpassing the 2019 Riga Masters and becoming the most withdrawn competition in recent years.

Zhao Xintong's first round was hot, shooting 52, 57, 71, 119 and 71 points to beat Clark 4-1. However, Zhao Xintong's state suddenly disappeared in the second round, losing 1-4 to Wecklin, who did not play 50+ in the whole game. Zhao Xintong became the first player to withdraw from the "Weide Series" with 150,000 extra prize money. Currently, the remaining 10 contenders are: Higgins, Allen, Van, Brechel, Robertson, O'Sullivan, Perry, Trump and Wharton.

In addition to Zhao Xintong, there are two TOP16 players out. Hawkins lost 3-4 to Anda, who broke 100, after saving two match points in the first round, and Brechel was killed 3-4 by Jack Jones in the third round after winning back-to-back victories over Barrett and Leary. Currently, the top 1 players remaining in the game drop to nine.

As the tournament progresses, the attribution of seats in the Tour Championships becomes clearer. Zhao Xintong, Robertson, O'Sullivan, Trump, Brechel, Williams and Allen have been shortlisted. The last ticket was temporarily deposited in the hands of Higgins, who ranked eighth in a single season.

Hawkins, who lost the game, and Yan Bingtao, Wafi and Gilbert, who did not come to Gibraltar to participate, have withdrawn from the competition. With only four contenders remaining, Wharton needs to reach the final to come back, and Karen Wilson, Jimmy Robertson and Van all have a chance to win the title to have a chance to come back.

Ding Junhui is relatively "no desire and no demand" in this competition, so he can play with a relatively peaceful attitude. In the first round against amateur Player Lloyd, the gap in strength between the two was too large, so that Ding Junhui only played six successful forces, and after playing 3 strokes of 50+, he won easily 4-0. In the second round, Ding Junhui shot a career 581st and a 23rd this season to beat Gary Wilson 4-1. In the third round, Ding Junhui's hand felt more and more smooth, playing a single 88, 90, 54, 69 points, 4-1 victory over Hill, advancing to the round of 16.

Neil Robertson beat Liang Wenbo 4-2 in the first round without playing a 50+. Robertson has since rebounded in form, winning back-to-back victories over Lions Jr. and McLeod, and has played a combined 2-hundred and 5-60+ in the above two games. Karen Wilson kept consecutive clean sheets for Clex and Higgins in the first two rounds and beat the powerful Carter 4-1 in the third round. Wilson's breaking 100 this season has reached 50. Lu Haotian created a surprise, with consecutive clean sheets for Taylor, Muir and George W, and together with Jordan Brown, he became the only two players on the first day to reach the round of 16 with three consecutive clean sheets.

24th fixtures

Round 1

Lee X-4 L. Pinkes, M. O'Denaire 0-4 J. Brown

D. Dell 2-4 L. Heathott, L. Stephens 0-4 K. Dahdi

J. Jones Promotion - Retirement P. O'Kane, Xu Si X-4 I. Boyco

P. Devlin 2-4 Xiao Guodong, B. Hawkins 3-4 Zhang Anda

R. Rolla 0-4 A. Hill, J. Cooper 1-4 S. Carrington

Ding Junhui 4-0 M. Lloyd, G. Wilson 4-2 M. King

M. Stevens Promotion - Retirement H. Hussein, A. Parggit 2-4 A. Carter

D. Womersley Promotion- Retirement Pang Junxu, A. Borden 2-4 R. McLeod

Wu Yize retired - promoted to A. Hicks, K. Wilson 4-0 L. K. Klex

N. Robertson 4-2 Liang Wenbo, O. Lynes Promotion - Retirement D. Gilbert

L. Brechel 4-3 J. Barrett, H. Mia 1-4 D. Liri

R. Williams 4-0 S. Watson, H. Waffy withdrew from the tournament - promoted to J. Jones

C. Wakelin Promotion - Retirement Si Jiahui, Zhao Xintong 4-1 J. Clark

J. Tormund 2-4 R. Muir, A. Taylor 0-4 Lu Haotian

N. Sankam 4-1 M. Celt, S. Wahedi 4-0 S. Maddox

F. Ajayib 4-2 A. Kati, E. Slaese 1-4 M. Georgiu

Round 2

L. Pinkis 0-4 J. Brown, L. Lichtenberg 4-3K. Dahdi

J. Jones 4-0 I. Boyco, Xiao Guodong 2-4 Zhang Anda

A. Hill 4-3 S. Carrington, Ding Junhui 4-1 G. Wilson

M. Stevens 3-4 A. Carter, A. Hicks 0-4K. Wilson

N. Robertson 4-2 O. Lanes, D. Wormsley 0-4 R. McLeod

L. Brechel 4-1 D. Leary, R. Williams 3-4 Jak Jones

N. Sankam 3-4 S. Wahdi, C. Wakelin 4-1 Zhao Xintong

R. Muir 0-4 Lu Haotian, F. Ajayb 1-4 M. Georgiou

Round 3

J. Brown 4-0 L. Heathcote, J. Jones 4-2 Anda

A. Hill 1-4 Ding Junhui, A. Carter 1-4K. Wilson

N. Robertson 4-1 R. McLeod, L. Brechel 3-4 Jak Jones

S. Wahdi 4-2 C. Wakelin, Lu Haotian 4-0 M. Georgiu

25th fixtures

16:30

R. Wharton vs. D. Mitchell, H. Pinnacle vs. J. Page

R. Dai vs. Wu Anyi, L. Walker vs Zhou Yuelong

J. Higgins vs. D. Grace, J. Astley vs. M. Holt

J. Cahill vs. B. Hancone, T. Uno vs. F. Becerra

J. Perry vs. L. Fernandez, K. Johar vs. M. White