On April 24, 2022, Beijing time, the second round of the Snooker World Championship ended a focus battle, Yan Bingtao defeated Mark Selby 13-10 to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Championship for the first time. The 22nd inning of the match took nearly 90 minutes, setting a new Crucible record. In the 18th round, there was also a controversial scene, Yan Bingtao hit the key ball for a long time, and then asked the referee to wipe the mother ball, which was rejected by the referee, which caused heated discussion.
Yan Bingtao's playing style is similar to Selby's, although young, but also a player with very comprehensive technical ability, facing Selby, Yan Bingtao fully exerts his technical characteristics, which is amazing. After the end of the first two stages, Yan Bingtao led 9-7 and saw the hope of winning.
As soon as the third stage came up, the two began to fight, Yan Bingtao won the 17th set 61-47, 63-52 won the 18th set, and the big score was 11-7. The 18th inning was crucial, and there were also more controversial scenes, in the stage of competing for the color ball, Selby's one-shot defense made a mistake, and the coffee ball was close to the mouth of the bag, which seemed to give Yan Bingtao an offensive opportunity, but the blue ball was suspected of blocking the offensive line.
It was a key shot, Yan Bingtao tried at least four times, but gave up, he was very cautious, because he understood that if he made a mistake, he might give up the opportunity, and even touch the blue ball and be judged foul. Yan Bingtao of course wanted to expand the lead, and after a long period of thought, he asked the referee to wipe the mother ball, but the referee refused.
Because this ball is very critical, if the referee agrees to Yan Bingtao's request, once the ball is placed in the wrong position, even a slight deviation may affect the result. Therefore, the referee refused Yan Bingtao's request, and Selby on the sideline also smiled, he should not have expected Yan Bingtao to make such a request at this time.
The two famous players Jimmy White and McManus, who played as commentators at European sports, were also unhappy with Yan Bingtao. Jimmy White said that because of the fair play, the referee rejected Yan Bingtao's request. Jimmy White went on to say that Yan Bingtao is under great pressure and wants to win the game, but you should not play such a clever trick in such a tense situation. McManus said that I don't know what Yan Bingtao is thinking, I don't like to watch it, Mark Selby doesn't like it, most of the players on the tour will not like it.
However, Yan Bingtao finally scored a coffee ball and won a very crucial game. After the game, Selby was also asked about this matter in an interview, saying that Yan Bingtao did not necessarily have ulterior motives, but that the position was more delicate, and if the referee could not put back the correct position, the ball that could not be scored could be scored.
In fact, Yan Bingtao should not think so much, at that moment he was also very hesitant, the pressure is also very large, perhaps this kind of request is to alleviate the pressure, as for the remarks of Jimmy White and McManus, it is a bit exaggerated, fair play is the basic requirement, Yan Bingtao of course understands this!