What if you encounter an opponent who is stronger than yourself? Yan Bingtao gave the answer with his calm defensive performance. In the match against the defending champion Selby, Yan Bingtao did the defense to the extreme, and even once reversed the big score through the defensive limit reversal. Although this style of play is not good, it has won the respect of the opponent. In the case of Ding Junhui's exit and Zhao Xintong's life hanging by a thread, the young and old Yan Bingtao carried the banner of Chinese snooker.
In a focus battle in the second round of the World Championships, Yan Bingtao, a Post-00 chinese woman, challenged the defending champion and number one seed of the tournament, Selby. At present, Yan Bingtao ranks 16th in the world, and Selby ranks second in the world. In the first round, Selby eliminated Jones 10-7, while Yan Bingtao defeated Wakelin 10-6 to advance to the round of 16 for three consecutive years.
The two have no previous record of playing each other at the World Championships. Before this season, Yan Bingtao was at a disadvantage against Selby, but this season Yan Bingtao won 3 consecutive victories against his opponents, so he maintained a psychological advantage over Selby before the World Championships. According to the format, this round of matches is a 25-game, 13-win format, which is played in three stages.
The two sides fought bitterly in the first set. In the end, Selby took the lead, scoring a 54-pointer twice to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, the two sides were once again caught in a long defensive battle, Yan Bingtao missed the ball, and Selby scored 67 points twice. However, Yan Bingtao did not give up, forced the opponent to make a mistake through successful defense, and finally completed the extreme reversal 74-67, pulling the score to a draw. In the 3rd inning, Yan Bingtao made the ball, and Selby went wrong again. Yan Bingtao started to score 104 points on the single pole, the score was 128-6, and the big score was reversed to 2-1.
In the 4th set, Yan Bingtao made a mistake after 49 points, and Selby made a mistake after 50 points. Yan Bingtao seized the opportunity to clear the stage again, 73-50, and won 3 consecutive sets in the case of losing one set first, 3-1. At the end of the first four innings, Yan Bingtao led Selby in offensive success rate, long platform success rate and Ann global success rate.
In the 5th inning, Selby made it 92-7 to tie the score to 2-3. In the 6th set, Selby scored 54 points, but Yan Bingtao was still intermittent, winning the set 65-54, 4-2. In the 7th set, Selby pulled back another set 67-13, 3-4. In the 8th set, Yan Bingtao's red ball sank to the bottom of the defense, but still leaked out of the bottom bag red ball, Selby seized the only opportunity to play, single shot 83 points, and finally tied the big score, 4-4.
It can be seen that after the break, Selby has adjusted, and the feel has clearly warmed up, while Yan Bingtao is just the opposite. In terms of data, Yan Bingtao's offensive success rate is 88%, and the success rate of Changtai is 53%, which is not as good as the opponent, only An Global success rate is 82%, and the opponent is equal. Obviously, Yan Bingtao was able to let the opponent chase after him in the first stage and finally draw the opponent, not by a sharp attack, but by defending more patiently, which can be called "China Selby". In the afternoon, the two will fight the second phase.