As we all know, Selby's "grinding" is unparalleled in the world, and any opponent who fights against it is likely to suffer "ruthless destruction" physically and psychologically, only this time he meets a younger Chinese "grinding king".
On April 24, Beijing time, in a focus match in the quarterfinals of the Snooker World Championships, China's Yan Bingtao eliminated the defending champion and world number one Selby with an aggregate score of 13-10, reaching the top 8 of the World Championships for the first time in his career. In this tug-of-war that took nearly 10 hours, the 22nd set took 85 minutes and 22 seconds, setting a record for the longest single game in the World Championships, and the "post-00s" youngster set off enough waves to make the snooker world marvel.
01
The epic war of attrition grinds both sides to urinary urgency
The first stage of the match took 3 1/2 hours in eight sets, with the two sides drawing 4-4. In the second stage, after playing a full 3 hours in 8 sets, Yan Bingtao gradually gained the upper hand, and his solid defense made Selby miserable, taking a 9-7 lead. And the last stage of the 7 innings, the two sides are "working together" to create history, from 2 a.m. Beijing time on the 24th to nearly 6 o'clock, taking up to 3 hours and 50 minutes, of which the 22nd game, the two are even more bizarre enough to compete for 85 minutes, and finally Yan Bingtao won the game with difficulty to get the match point, and played a single 112 points in the next game, a one-shot victory.
Especially the third stage of the "grinding" is even a bit "crazy", there is a rare scene where both sides can't bear to urinate and apply to the referee to go to the toilet, but no matter how Selby adjusts the state of mind, he has no good way to take the post-00 opponent, it seems to be limited by style, you shoot time 25 seconds, that's not OK, I shoot 26 seconds, see who grinds who kills.
According to the official records of the World Federation of Taiwan, the innings took 85 minutes and 22 seconds, the highest in the 45-year history of the World Championships, after the record was set by Luca Brechel and Gary Wilson in 2019, who had spent 79 minutes and 31 seconds in a single set.
While advancing to the quarter-finals of the World Championships, Yan Bingtao also set a number of records: he was the first post-00 player to reach the top 8 of the World Championships, and the fourth Chinese player to reach the top 8 of the World Championships after Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun and Liang Wenbo. This battle has made him countless fans.
02
Teenagers and old people learn the way to win
Slightly obese and old-looking, Yan Bingtao was ridiculed like a 40-year-old when he debuted at the age of 14, but he does have a mature mind like a 40-year-old player, which is the main reason why he is now generally optimistic about having a greater achievement.
Compared with Zhao Xintong, Lu Haotian, Fan Zhengyi and other peers to pursue a lively attack, Yan Bingtao is obviously a completely different style, he never pursues a gorgeous rod, more rely on patience and meticulous capture of opportunities, in Yan Bingtao's view, like Selby, Higgins like the reasonable play, strong ability to resist pressure, is the "master" in his heart. "If I want to be a master, I have to be like them, I can't change my age, I can only catch up with the minds of the older players." Yan Bingtao said.
Yan Bingtao knows how to win, and he once used this sentence to explain his snooker philosophy: "I would rather win step by step steadily than lose the game in a dashing manner." And this game is the best embodiment of this sentence - in the official statistics, Selby is fully ahead of Yan Bingtao, but the final result is that the latter wins, which can be called "economical and practical" play, which is vividly interpreted by Yan Bingtao.
03
Eliminate the four champions and then fight the three champions
At this World Championship, 4 Chinese players ranked in the top 32, Ding Junhui and Lu Haotian, who broke through from the qualifiers, were both out of the first round of the main tournament, and only two seeded players, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao, passed the first round. In the second round of the main competition, Zhao Xintong lost to Stephen Maguire 9-13, except for Yan Bingtao, who was a "single seedling", who performed well, and the rest of the players played mediocrely.
Now, all eyes were focused on Yan Bingtao. In the quarter-finals, Yan Bingtao will play against the World Championship treble-timer, 47-year-old "Golden Left Hand" Mark Williams, who has a blast in the first two rounds, and has won two consecutive Welsh compatriots to advance to advance.
Yan Bingtao defeated the favorite to win the championship, making himself a favorite to win the championship, and when asked if he could win all the way to the championship, Yan Bingtao replied: "Maybe, who knows?" If I play in a state like this, I will win. Although Yan Bingtao has played with Williams 6 times before, falling behind 2-4, the defeat of Selby this time must have doubled his confidence, and it is not impossible to pick out the "old cannon". According to the schedule, the first stage of the two will start at 5 pm Beijing time on April 26, the second stage will be played at 2:00 am on April 27, the third stage will be decided at 9:30 pm on the same day, and the 1/4 final will still use the 25 sets and 13 win system.
Yan Bingtao's playing seems to be grinding and rubbing, but in fact, he is careful and calm, not impatient, focused on the game, and his psychological quality is excellent, and this style of playing is very suitable for the world championships, this long-term system, I believe that the top 8 will not be Yan Bingtao's ceiling, he can also get more applause and honors.
Text/Qiu Ye
Photo: Xinhua News Agency