The third round of the 2021-2022 World Snooker Qualifiers was in full swing, with Chinese players performing poorly, with four of the six players playing out and only Zhou Yuelong and Lu Haotian winning the "derby" in China. Veteran Li Xing lost three consecutive sets when leading 5:3, and the decider was "killed" by the opponent with a one-point advantage, and did not qualify for the fourth round of competition. Zhang Jiankang performed normally in the match against six ranking champion Maguire, and finally lost to the opponent 3:6 due to poor strength, and did not qualify. Zhou Yuelong and Lü Haotian defeated Zhang Anda and Lu Ning respectively in the "civil war" to advance to the fourth round. On the sixth matchday of the World Championship qualification, the top seed Richie Walton played poorly against Allen Taylor, who unbelievably lost four consecutive sets when he led 4:2, and finally lost to the opponent 4:6, and was tragically "a round trip" and did not qualify for the next round. The famous mark King was stateless in the match against Michael White, and finally lost to his opponent 1:6, and did not qualify for the decider round.
Because the world's top sixteen players as seeded players directly advanced to the World Championship main tournament, the world's 17th veteran Rich Wharton became the number one seed in the World Championship qualification tournament, this season Riche Walton is in a relatively stable state, he has reached the German Masters, the Players Championship and other ranking tournaments of the top four, in addition to he has repeatedly reached the top eight of the ranking tournament, the world ranking also once surpassed Yan Bingtao to the top 16, but unfortunately the final failure to win the World Championship seed seat, he had to start from the qualification, But even so, as the top seed in the qualifiers, Rich Walton's promotion prospects are still widely optimistic, after all, his two-round qualification opponents are not high in the world rankings. Rich Wharton's third-round opponent is Alan Taylor, who is only ranked 80th in the world and has relatively limited strength. However, in this game, Rich Wharton's state fluctuated greatly, and the game process was also full of twists and turns. At the beginning of the game, Alan Taylor took the initiative, while Walton entered the form very slowly, the first two sets of the two sides were fiercely contested, Taylor repeatedly attacked and won two consecutive sets to lead 2:0.
Wharton then fought back, with Richton scoring 52 points in the third inning to pull back a set, and in the fourth game Walton again played a single 54 points to equalize. After the equalizer, Walton's morale was greatly boosted, in the fifth game Walton attacked several times and won 3:2 to win the score 88:10, in the sixth game Richton won by 133 points and extended the score to 4:2, I thought Walton would win the game in one go, did not expect the situation to take a sharp turn, in the seventh game Walton missed a good game when the score was ahead, Taylor seized the opportunity to narrowly win the score with a score of 72:71, in the eighth game Taylor morale was greatly boosted, and after scoring 74 points, he chased another set. The two sides drew 4:4. After the tie, Taylor's self-confidence exploded, and in the ninth inning, Taylor attacked multiple times to win 65:24 to get the match point, and in the tenth game, Taylor single-handedly scored 56 points to take away the victory, and defeated the top seed 6:4 on aggregate, and strongly advanced to the fourth round of competition.
Top seed Richie Wharton upset out of the game would have been a "godsend" for The Chinese veteran Li Xing, according to the schedule, if Li Xing and Walton can win in the third round, they will compete for a regular seat in the fourth round, Wharton ranked 17th in the world, his unexpected exit is good news for Li Xing, but unfortunately Li Xing himself did not seize the opportunity, Li Xing's third round opponent is Scott Donaldson, the two world rankings are only one place, it should be said that the strength is relatively close, The course of the game also validated this. The first four sets of the game were divided into 2:2 draws, and then Li Xing gradually occupied the field to take the initiative to get the match point 5:3, unfortunately, he lost three consecutive sets, the total score was 5:6 against the opponent, it is worth mentioning that the decider lost a good game when the big score was ahead, and finally lost a point, losing the perfect opportunity to compete for the world championship main event. Veteran Li Xing has only participated in the World Championships once in his career, and this year is a rare opportunity for Li Xing, especially after the unexpected exit of the biggest competitor Walton, we can only expect Li Xing to fight again in the next year.