On April 23, 2022, the Snooker World Championship continued, china's Yan Bingtao appeared to challenge the defending champion Selby, competing for a place in the quarterfinals, the first stage ended eight sets, Yan Bingtao led 4-2 and lost two consecutive sets, and the two sides won four sets each to tie.
Yan Bingtao is the No. 16 seed, once defeated Higgins, won the Masters championship, unlike many young players, Yan Bingtao played steadily, balanced attack and defense, good psychological quality, he is more suitable for the World Championships this long game system, the last round of 10-6 victory over Chris. Wei Kelin advanced to the round of 16 for two consecutive years, and Yan Bingtao's best result this season was runner-up, losing to Zhao Xintong at the German Masters.
Selby is the defending champion, just last year he defeated Murphy, the fourth time in Crucible to win the cup, although the performance of this season is a bit sluggish, but to the World Championships, is always the favorite to win the championship, Selby is good at playing big games, especially the long game system, recently Selby mentality has a lot of problems, this time has been adjusting, the opponent is Yan Bingtao, it is really very difficult for him to play.
The two sides have met seven times in their careers, Yan Bingtao has a slight advantage of 4 wins and 3 losses, this season Yan Bingtao won three consecutive games over Selby, two of which played to the decider, both of them are more cautious players, the quality of defense is very high, which leads to a slower game process.
The game will use a 25-game 13-win system, now only the first stage of eight innings, the first set Selby played a single shot 54 points to interrupt the attack, followed by a long defensive battle between the two sides, Selby once again started to complete the super points, 101-12 first, in the second set Selby played a single 54 points to interrupt the attack, Yan Bingtao won 74-67, and Yan Bingtao blasted a single shot 104 points in the third set to win another set.
In the fourth set, Selby played a single 50 points to interrupt the attack, Yan Bingtao seized the opportunity, won 73-50 on several occasions, Yan Bingtao led Selby 3-1 into the intermission, both of them had good defensive quality, but Yan Bingtao's ability to seize the opportunity was stronger, in the fifth set Selby won the fight 92-7, in the sixth set Selby played a single 54 points to turn into defense, Yan Bingtao completed the reversal at 65-54.
Selby was in poor shape, the ability to score consecutive points seriously declined, in the seventh set Selby played a single shot of 29 points to interrupt the attack, and then the two made mistakes with each other, Selby pulled back a set at 67-13, in the eighth set Selby played a single 83 points, Yan Bingtao led 4-2 and lost two consecutive sets, both sides won four sets each, Selby was very strong in adjustment, three times played a single 50+ was overturned, there was no impact on him.
From the performance of the first stage, Yan Bingtao fell into a bitter battle, Selby is not in the best state, but the impromptu play is OK, do not rule out the possibility of the two sides playing the decider, the second stage is crucial, let us look forward to Yan Bingtao's performance.