On April 23, China's snooker youngster Zhao Xintong lost to Stephen Maguire 9-13 in the second round of the World Championships, regrettably stopping in the round of 16. After the race, Zhao Xintong accepted an exclusive interview with Sailing Olympic champion Xu Lijia, and conducted an in-depth chat on the competition and many topics other than the competition, the following is the main content of the interview:
Xu Lijia: Zhao Xintong, first of all, thank you for interacting with me on Weibo yesterday, do you also brush Weibo every day when you are free?
Zhao Xintong: Well, yes, I am also an Internet addicted teenager, so in fact, I will see the messages given to me by netizens, so I am also very grateful to so many fans who support me, and so many viewers.
Xu Lijia: After yesterday's fight, I sent a message "You can let go and fight", but what makes me a little puzzled is that you matched a laughing picture, and then a crying expression, how to interpret your mood.
Zhao Xintong: Because the first two stages were big behind, I think in the last stage, people still have two sets left to win this game, if this will not let go of the play, there will be no chance, so I thought about letting go of the game. That photo is my mood at that time, I have let go, so I laughed so happy; the expression of crying is because I am behind the score, so it is this expression.
Xu Lijia: In the first two stages, I also said that I didn't play at a normal level, is it the most nervous time since you played professionally.
Zhao Xintong: In fact, there are a lot of tense matches, and playing the final is also very tense, but like this game, because it is the most important game, for the snooker players, I am also the first time in this place to enter the round of 16, and I am also very confident to win this game, but the front does not play well, so to the back also let him lead so much, then you can only let go.
Xu Lijia: The victory at the British Championship four or five months ago brought you more confidence at the same time, but also made you bear more pressure?
Zhao Xintong: This is a process, I think as an athlete you will experience these things, when you win the championship your attention is high, so many people support you, in fact, it is a good thing, but the pressure will be more or less to yourself, there will be some changes in mentality, after all, I also just had some achievements, so I hope to be able to control myself in this regard later, the emotional management of the game in all aspects.
Xu Lijia: I like your entry music this time, it is Eason Chan's "Lone Brave", is it chosen by yourself?
Zhao Xintong: Yes, this is my own choice before the game. I think...... Appearance music is all about... It's the feeling of a brave person coming up, so I think this song is particularly suitable.
Xu Lijia: Let's evaluate some of my different performances in the three stages of the second round of the World Championships, and some changes in my mentality.
Zhao Xintong: In the first stage, I played with a more excited and curious mentality, but in the first stage he played really well; in the second stage, I felt that I had to grit my teeth and have to chase the score back, but he still performed very well, so my pressure may come up, I didn't play as well as I usually trained, causing me to fall behind by a big score; the last stage was like I said before, let go of the fight, but in the last stage I played quite well. It is also a relatively satisfactory answer.
Xu Lijia: Comment on your opponent Maguire.
Zhao Xintong: The last time I played with him was when I first entered the profession, it would be 16 years I may not be as good as I am now, so I will play with him with the mentality of learning, I lost 6:2, this time I am holding a revenge mentality, and I think I can win his mentality to treat this game, but his two games are still playing the same as that year, although after five or six years, he is also more than forty years old, but it is true that people play particularly stable in this regard. And it did play at the top level, so there is no regret in losing to him.
Xu Lijia: Do you think that there will be some radicalism in some ball handling, not as calm and sophisticated as the opponent?
Zhao Xintong: Yes, after all, this is also related to my own style, I belong to that kind of offensive type, so I may have a little flaw in this regard, I hope that in the future, when I meet this kind of player, I can have more ways to deal with it.
Xu Lijia: Although you were eliminated today, you have taken another step compared to the World Championships in 19 years three years ago, and three years ago you were out of the first round against Selby, what is the difference between your own personal feelings about participating in the World Championships these two times.
Zhao Xintong: The first time I entered the World Championships, it would be very exciting and more nervous, after all, the first time in Crucible, the greatest dream of being a snooker athlete was to play a game here, so that time I played more nervously, and that time I was a big score ahead of me, I was deeply impressed, at halftime, I thought about the picture of the opponent flipping, so in the end I was also overturned by the opponent, but in fact, as the first time, it was also normal, and I also gained a lot of experience. This year I'm seeded for the second time as a crucible, so there's going to be a bit of a change in mentality, and I feel like I'm a lot better than I used to be, so I feel like I'm capable of winning more games and I'm looking forward to myself.
Xu Lijia: In what aspects do you want to strengthen in the future?
Zhao Xintong: I know that I still have some shortcomings in the game, that is, I may be worse than the top players in terms of patience and in some special defenses, and I know it myself, but I think it is better to make up for it, I think I will strengthen it later, and I believe that I can do it.
Xu Lijia: Do your parents also bring their relatives and friends to watch your game live?
Zhao Xintong: They didn't tell me that they should watch my game. But they won't tell me, tell me that they're afraid to put pressure on me, like I'm so old now, some words feel unspeakable, but I really thank my parents so much for supporting me to go this road from childhood to adulthood, and then let me go farther and farther down this road, really thank my parents very much, because I know that when I was young, he took me all over the country to find coaches, and then traveled to many cities, I grew up so big, I now think that this is really not easy thing.
Xu Lijia: At the end of the whole season, you yourself will say how long you want to give yourself a vacation, that is, how long you will not touch this table.
Zhao Xintong: The time will not be too long, about half a month, and then I will definitely go back to training and strengthen the place where I should strengthen, because although I lost this game, I am still very much looking forward to next season, because I think I still have many aspects that I have not done my best, so I hope to do better next season.
Xu Lijia: Finally, I care about all the domestic countries in front of the camera... Then the fan friends who are very concerned about your game send a few words.
Zhao Xintong: Thank you for your support, and then this time the game did not achieve very good results, but I also tried my best, I hope that everyone will continue to pay attention to snooker, continue to support the Chinese team next season, and then cheer us up, thank you!
Note: The content of the dialogue is only extracted from the key parts of the interview, and the oral written language is appropriate, and the complete and original content should be paid attention to the Xu Lijia Weibo platform.