#Headline Creation Challenge#On March 28, 2023, Ding Junhui defeated Northern Ireland "Little Steel Cannon" Mark Allen 10:5, becoming the first player to advance to the semifinals of the 2023 Snooker Tour Championship.
Ding Junhui played Allen twice this season, but unfortunately lost, Allen has an absolute advantage in terms of record and psychology. Ding Junhui stabilized his mentality after a bad start and trailed two games, maintained a good competitive condition, strongly reversed the score, did not give Allen too many opportunities, and finally won this battle for revenge. With this victory, Ding Junhui retained his hopes of going straight to this season's World Championships, and became the only Chinese player who is expected to advance to the World Championships.
2022 can be called the darkest moment of Chinese billiards, as many as 8 Chinese professional billiards players were banned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for allegedly manipulating the game, such a large-scale gambling and counterfeiting incident shocked the snooker world and caused great damage to China's snooker image. After the match-fixing incident, Ding Junhui became the only one in China and continued to participate in various events. It is hoped that Ding Junhui will play at a level in the following games, guard against arrogance and irritability, and successfully enter the World Championships, bringing a ray of light to Chinese billiards.