On April 24, China's snooker youngster Yan Bingtao defeated defending champion Mark Selby 13-10 in the second round of the World Championships to reach the quarterfinals of the World Championships for the first time in his career. After the race, Yan Bingtao accepted an exclusive interview with Xu Lijia, the Olympic champion of sailing, 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: Yan Bingtao really played very long tonight.
Yan Bingtao: I think it's quite habitual, because I myself am not a very fast player, the rhythm and scoring time are about the middle in the profession, and my own playing style may be more defensive, and then with today's opponents, I know that it will definitely not progress quickly.
Xu Lijia: I came prepared, but I remember you said earlier that it would be very difficult and long to think of this game, but I didn't expect it to be so long, didn't I?
Yan Bingtao: Yes, to be honest, I didn't expect to be able to bite him so tightly in the first two stages, I think more about the possibility that I will collapse, so when I have every opportunity to fight for this victory, there will be some tension and pressure. He made some unforced mistakes, and I didn't let him play so smoothly, creating some trouble for him. Then the turning point was that the set was almost 80 minutes, and that set was crucial, because if I won, I would get to the match point first and stop his winning streak. Because I was 11-7 ahead at the time, I thought it wouldn't be so easy, so I won so easily, and sure enough, he suddenly came back a little bit after 11-7, but the game ended, because he missed a good chance to pull 11-11, I knew I had a chance to win, and then after the next set took the opportunity... Anyway, I told myself that I could just focus on scoring every goal, because I always had some superfluous thoughts after every time I got to the match point.
Xu Lijia: You successfully eliminated those distractions.
Yan Bingtao: I didn't rule it out but I resisted today, and the last set was actually my ideal way to end the game.
Xu Lijia: Yes, you won this race with a single shot and won the world championship four times, what is it like.
Yan Bingtao: The only thing that makes me feel very different is that because I won him in the long game, I never thought of winning him in the long game. Because the first three times this season, although I won consecutively, it was a short-term game, so everyone may have some advantages in terms of results, and even think that I will still win today, but I don't think so.
Xu Lijia: In fact, I see that your total score is still lower than Selby's total score according to technical statistics, which shows that after entering the stalemate, your performance is actually dominant, how to maintain this concentration and endurance.
Yan Bingtao: Because my own playing style is more similar to his, maybe my attack is not as strong as his, because he belongs to the top offensive method, the top defense, but I feel that my own patience, willpower and defense belong to a level close to the top, so I never worry about my defense and patience. I'm also particularly envious, when he has been defending for a long time when both of them have a bad feel, he can seize the opportunity to score high scores, and he can also play a good coherence, I think this is a trait that a top player has, but I do this very poorly.
Xu Lijia: This World Championship is the first time to reach the quarterfinals, and it has also set your own personal best, so it is convenient to reveal what goals you set for yourself before the game.
Yan Bingtao: The pre-match goal is to win the first qualifier to play, play a 25-inning and 13-win game with Selby, and then put away the pole to rest... Oh, that's what I thought. I especially wanted to play this game with him.
Xu Lijia: Before winning this game today, did you already pay attention to who will be played in the next round?
Yan Bingtao: Not yet. But I saw the signing sheet very early on, and maybe I would hit Williams at the back, and then I also knew that Wilson and Trump were also in my half-district, and I had seen it a long time ago but hadn't thought about winning against whom.
Xu Lijia: That's very clear now, you are going to play Williams in the next game, he is actually a very difficult player, have you ever thought about what kind of strategy you have to adopt for him if he wants to win.
Yan Bingtao: I don't know, I really don't know. Because I played with him a lot of times, including my first ranking final and lost to him, I played with him many times in my career, but the impression is that I have never won, so I don't know how to play with him next time, and it is very scary to see his first two rounds of form.
Xu Lijia: Before the game, I heard that your state was not very good, which details were reflected.
Yan Bingtao: Because I didn't spend much energy on training before playing the World Championships, it is reasonable to say that it is a bit unreasonable, because before the competition, everyone will try their best to prepare. Then I didn't have so many expectations before the game, but it was the last big game, so I couldn't not play and couldn't treat it easily, so my attitude in the game was absolutely correct, just more relaxed before the game, eating, drinking, sneaking dogs and teasing cats.
Xu Lijia: There are a few pets in the family, who usually walks the dog.
Yan Bingtao: One dog and two cats. In the morning, she usually walked, and in the evening, I would finish training at about four or five o'clock and we would both walk again. Now I rarely practice all day long, basically half a day and a half a day, I think it is not the quantity, I think the quality is very important.
Xu Lijia: In the first stage, a pigeon suddenly flew in, and the first thought was what it was.
Yan Bingtao: I'm quite scared, because I'm particularly afraid of birds and other things, birds, chickens, and so on. It's a bit unexpected, so I wonder if someone put it in and deliberately did it.
Xu Lijia: But in fact, I still have some coughs, and in the past two days, I have heard friends say that your throat is a little uncomfortable, right?
Yan Bingtao: Well, the first most serious one is speechless.
Xu Lijia: Then I hope that you can rest and adjust well in the next two days of the offseason, and then further recover your state, and then look forward to your more perfect performance, come on!
Yan Bingtao: 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.