The Snooker Players Championship, which began in 2019, is a new tournament that fans love and watch because it is played by the world's top snooker players, and the participants are not the so-called "amateur golfers" who have complained about the previous championship champion Sean Murphy, but are all the top 8 stars of the season. It was an honor for Chinese player Zhao Xintong, who won two ranking titles, including a three-tournament laurel, to be the world number one that season, but unfortunately, he was defeated 9-10 by Higgins, one of the "75 Three Masters", in a good situation of 8-4 in the first round. And this is the third time that Zhao Xintong has played as the number one seed this season and encountered a round trip. Obviously, Zhao Xintong, who is 22 years younger than Higgins, still needs more tempering and learning, while the "wizard" who is old and strong and nearly 47 years old has once again performed "witchcraft" and taught the younger generation a good lesson, and his skills and willpower are admirable.
In the early morning of March 29, Beijing time, the first match of the first round of the 2022 Snooker Tour Championship ended at The Blue Cymru in Wales, England. The tournament is the 15th ranking round of the 2021/22 World Snooker Tour, with only the top 8 players in a single season eligible to compete. There are only 3 rounds in total, from the quarter-finals to the final, all of which use a long-term system of 19 innings and 10 wins, which is played in 2 stages and only 1 game per day. The first game was played by season-no.-one Zhao Xintong against veteran and season-ranked eighth-ranked Higgins. Snooker's cross-ranking duel is different from other projects, although it is the first VS eighth, but in fact, there is no obvious gap between the level of the two warring sides, and the key to victory or defeat depends on who plays well or badly, so the result does not have a cold one. This is also an important reason why it is difficult for fans to predict the outcome before the game.
The game process is indeed ups and downs, this event can make people learn a lot of things, including multiple attractive factors of competitive sports, backwardness, reversal, tiebreaker, great joy and sorrow are in it, so it is particularly exciting. Zhao Xintong took the lead first, achieved a 5-2 lead, although he was chased to 4-5 but won 3 consecutive sets, the score came to 8-4, two victories away from entering the final four, such a score seems to have killed the suspense of victory and defeat, but the old and strong Higgins once again showed his legendary fighting spirit, he seemed to release "witchcraft", won 5 consecutive sets, but took the lead in 9-8 to get the match point.
Zhao Xintong calmed down in the 18th set to score a single 64 point, the score came to 9-9, and the game eventually evolved into a single-game tiebreaker. The last laugh is the "wizard", who won 66-14 in the decider with his extreme control ability, and won Zhao Xintong 10-9 with difficulty, winning this real master duel.
Take a look at what the two had to say after the game. Zhao Xintong wrote in his personal social account: To be honest, I have learned a lot, and I think that Higgins, the top player in snooker, can fight a game to grab ten, although it is reversed, but this is snooker, the fun is here, both uncomfortable and enjoyable. I'm happy enough to have so many people supporting me, and I'm sure to cheer up and become the snooker player I want to be. This game has failed everyone, I hope that the World Championships will have a better me, remember to be happy. Higgins, on the other hand, put it this way: "I can't believe I won, I was embarrassed when I was 4-8 behind. I was thinking, Zhao Xintong is playing like a world-class player, and I am like an amateur player in a club. I really didn't think it could be reversed, really. But he missed a few innings and I started playing a little better, but the mother ball was still flying all over the table. I've dragged him to my level and there's no doubt that's why I won the game. Both men were modest, and Higgins was more humorous.
Zhao Xintong has emerged this season (the snooker season is bounded by the World Championships) and is the best performing player in The Chinese ball, winning the rankings twice, the world ranking has risen to seventh place, and the provisional ranking is at the top of the list, so every time he plays out, he pins the expectations of many Chinese fans. But this is the third time he has encountered a round trip as the number one seed (World Grand Prix 2-5 Gould; Players Championship 3-6 Hawkins; Tour Tournament 9-10 Higgins). Obviously, although his technical level has reached the forefront of the world, it has not yet reached the top.
Zhao Xintong's playing style of "Zhao Gongzi" resembles that of "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan, so he is also nicknamed "Little Rocket of China", and his style is highly praised by "Rocket" himself. Zhao Xintong plays crisply and sharply, never dragging mud and water, which is in stark contrast to the style of some world celebrities in the snooker stage, such as Alberton and Fu Jiajun in the past, Selby now, and even Yan Bingtao. His batting accuracy is extremely high, the game is highly watchable, and the shot is extremely fast, so he is loved by fans. But he also has his own weaknesses, playing fast is sometimes difficult to think about, defense is weaker than offense, and even he sometimes gives people the feeling of disdain for defense, so much so that Lisovsky once gave Zhao Xintong the evaluation of "never doing the ball".
So some fans summed up Zhao Xintong's snooker technique and style: the accuracy is super first-class, the position is first-class, and the defense is superior. In short, there are no first-class people. Although it has the elements of ridicule and jokes, it is also a praise for him at the same time, pointing out Zhao Xintong's current problems and deficiencies.
The Snooker Players Tournament is only available to the top 8 players in a single season, and together with the top 32 Grand Prix and the top 16 players' tournaments, the series of events called the Coral Cup Series, in which the player with the highest total prize money can receive an additional £150,000. Now the 150,000 pounds have no luck with Zhao Xintong, but there is a 20,000 pound bonus to participate in one round, and the travel fee is enough. Moreover, as far as Zhao Xintong is concerned, it is worth counting this defeat as the tuition fee for Higgins' teaching, after all, playing the World Championships next month is Xiao Zhao's biggest goal in the near future. It is not impossible to lose the mulberry elm and reap the east corner.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin