From August 19 to August 20, Beijing time, the 2022-2023 World Snooker European Masters played two consecutive rounds and decided the top 4 lineup. Mainland star Yan Bingtao lost 3-5 to Welsh player Jamie Jones in the quarter-finals, regrettably stopping in the round of 16.
Yan Bingtao, 22 years old and ranked 15th in the world, is currently the second highest-ranking Chinese team player, behind Zhao Xintong, who is ranked 6th. In this European Masters, Yan Bingtao won the derby with Pang Junxu 5-2 in the qualifiers, came to Germany and defeated Wales player Emery 5-4 in the first round of the main match, and in the second round, he found a good hand and swept the powerful veteran Rich Walton 5-0.
Jamie Jones is quite tough in style, and at the age of 34, he ranks 32nd in the world and is also competitive. In the European qualifying round, he eliminated Mark Davis 5-2, defeated Hamilton 5-4 in the first round of the main round, and won 5-1 in the second round against Mark Joyce, thus gaining the opportunity to challenge Yan Bingtao.
In the first set of tonight's game, Jamie Jones took the lead and blasted a single shot with 54 points to win the opening 103-0. In the second set, Yan Bingtao's situation did not improve, and he only scored 1 point and was directly won by the opponent with 67 points, falling into a 0-2 situation. In the third set, Yan Bingtao attacked through the long platform, but after reaching 16 points, there was no chance to connect, and chose to turn into defense; After a tug-of-war, Yan Bingtao laid the foundation for victory with a single shot of 52 points - although he had lost the penultimate red ball that could lock the victory early after the 68-17 super point, leaving a glimmer of hope for Jones, but Yan Bingtao defended very tightly in the closing stage, and finally won the game 74-51 after Bo scored a powder goal, and the total score was 1-2.
In the fourth set, Yan Bingtao, who was relieved, upgraded the firepower index, and he soared a single shot 88 to win, and the total score was 2-2 and the opponent returned to the same running line. In the fifth set, the two sides were caught in a slow pace of attack and defense, and Jamie Jones handled the closing stage more aggressively, winning 66-35 and leading again 3-2. In the sixth set, Jones returned to his touch, and the attack was smooth, directly soaring into a single shot of 128 points and sealing Yan Bingtao, bringing out the match point 4-2.
In the seventh set, Yan Bingtao faced a desperate situation and blasted a single shot of 94 points to save a match point. However, he failed to score consistently after starting the eighth inning and was again won by Jones 80-9, thus locking the total score at 5-3. Yan Bingtao missed the quarter-finals and lost the opportunity to challenge "Golden Left Hand" Mark Williams, who eliminated mainland player Zhou Yuelong 5-0 in the quarter-finals.