After the end of the Gibraltar Tournament, known as the "Red Packet Race", the Snooker Tour Championship entered the countdown, as the first seed Zhao Xintong shouldered the heavy responsibility and started the first tour championship journey, at 20 o'clock this evening, the opening battle was played, Zhao Xintong once again ushered in the old rival John Higgins, is expected to reproduce the grand scene of the original British Championship.
For Zhao Xintong, the 31st champion Higgins is a very special opponent, just like Ding Junhui is difficult to overcome the O'Sullivan mark, Zhao Xintong also has great difficulties against Higgins, he once had great confidence in Higgins, became famous in the British Championship, at that time no one was optimistic about Zhao Xintong, everyone thought that he would stop at the confrontation with Higgins, but Zhao Xintong became a black player to the end, directly lifted the British Championship laurels, the first champion of his personal career was the British Championship champion with high gold content, Zhao Xintong became the first player in the post-90s to win the three major competitions, instantly raising the starting point.
Then, Zhao Xintong and Higgins met again in the Champions League, masters, with rich experience and profound skills, Zhao Xintong failed to continue the glory of the British Championship, has been twice KO by Higgins, since 2015, Zhao Xintong and Higgins have played 9 games, of which Zhao Xintong with 4 wins and 5 losses to dominate, which makes the voice about Zhao Xintong's fear of a round of travel more and more loud, many fans suspect that Zhao Xintong is difficult to cross the "mountain" of Higgins.
Since Zhao Xintong won the German Masters, Zhao Xintong once again ushered in a low point, he has not played a wonderful result for a long time, in the recent Welsh Open last round of swimming out, Gibraltar Open stopped in the second round, Zhao Xintong seems to make fans lose confidence again.
But Zhao Xintong is an explosive player, and his play is not as stable as Yan Bingtao, which just makes the result more suspenseful. Relying on the super accurate offensive ability, Zhao Xintong has been blind to any opponent, not afraid of any opponent, more than one snooker general has praised Zhao Xintong's talent, and more than one snooker star has hoped that Zhao Xintong can strengthen the attack while improving the defense, Zhao Xintong is also slowly trying to adjust.
Like his distinctive style of play, Zhao Xintong's state of play is also ups and downs, it seems that he will always decline at the peak, and he is also good at rising in the trough.
In the 21st British Championship, Zhao Xintong ushered in the first peak of his career, and immediately went out of the world grand prix as the first seed, when many fans were worried that Zhao Xintong was short-lived, he immediately exploded eight consecutive wins in the Champions League, and then was sent out of the Masters competition ranks by Higgins in a round of travel, and to the German Masters, Zhao Xintong swept Yan Bingtao in a fiery state to win the championship, firmly occupying the first place of the new season.
Now, Zhao Xintong once again in the trough against the old rival Higgins, is expected to bottom out, refuse a round of travel, bid farewell to the shameful record, strong turnover, tonight's 20 o'clock opener, looking forward to the wonderful performance of the first seed Zhao Xintong.