World Grand Prix: Lu Haotian refused to reverse, Yuan Sijun regretted losing to Selby, and O'Sullivan was rumored to be out of action for two months
After the feast of the Masters, the 2024 Snooker World Grand Prix will start in the early morning of January 16, 2024, Beijing time. 32 players competed for the £100,000 prize money.
1. The Rocket Grand Prix has not been withdrawn for the time being, and it is rumored that it will be closed for two months
In the Masters, Rocket O'Sullivan won the championship and was pleased to mention the championship bonus of 250,000 pounds. This season, the championship championship with a prize money of more than 200,000 pounds was taken away by Mr. Huo alone. As a result, fans once speculated whether Mr. Huo would withdraw from the World Grand Prix. However, there is no news yet that Mr. Fire will retire. There is news that after playing the World Grand Prix, Mr. Huo may take a two-month break and then play the World Championships. Mr. Huo, is this going to specialize in a single-season major?
If it is really a two-month break, it means that Mr. Huo may give up the World Open in Yushan, China, but in the Players Championship and Tour Championship in the United Kingdom, these two events have fewer people and fewer rounds, and Mr. Huo should not give up. Of course, this is just grapevine and has yet to be confirmed.
Rocket O'Sullivan, the first game of the World Grand Prix against Pang Junxu is scheduled after 4 am Beijing time on the 17th.
In addition, due to Carter's arrival in the final of the Masters, the match against Wu Yize, which was originally played on the first day, was postponed to the second day, and the match with Wafei was reversed.
2. Chinese player: Lu Haotian refused to reverse, and Yuan Sijun lost to Master Sai in the tiebreaker
In this year's World Grand Prix, China set a record with 9 players participating. Two appeared on the first day, Lu Haotian and Yuan Sijun.
Lu Haotian played against Chris Wakelin, Lu Haotian had two 50+ shots, and after starting 3-0, he was chased by Wakelin for 3 consecutive games. In the deciding game, Wakelin made a mistake with the black ball and missed the opportunity to reverse the kill. Lu Haotian took over a shot of 68 points and killed the game. Lu Hao turned against Xiaote in the world.
Yuan Sijun played against Selby, and Master Sai started the game with a single stroke of 85 and won two games in a row. Yuan Sijun scored 88 points in a single stroke to recover a game. In the 4th game, Master Sai reversed 68 single-stroke single-game reversal, 3-1 to the match point. Yuan Sijun saved two match points in a row and dragged the game into a tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, the two sides made mistakes in and out, and simply won the situation, and Master Sai also made mistakes, and Master Sai himself laughed. In the end, Yuan Sijun's key green ball did not score, and Master Sai advanced thrillingly.
3. Xiaote advanced, and Wafei narrowly won
The tournament's top seed ace Trump (Trump) kicked off the opening bout against Jamie Jones. Jones broke 100 in the first game and started 2-0. After that, Xiaote hit 3 shots of 70+, won four games in a row, and won the game 4-2.
Wafei played against Selt, Wafei hit 134 in the third game, and the 3-1 lead was chased by Selt to the deciding game. In the deciding game, Selt lost a chance to reverse the game, and Wafei narrowly won.
4. Draw and Schedule
The first round continues tonight. The specific schedule is as follows:
◆ 9 p.m. Beijing time on the 16th:
Higgins v Murphy
Zhou Yuelong v Maguire
No earlier than 10 p.m. (usually 11 p.m.):
Carter v Wu Yize
Gary Wilson v Gilbert
3 a.m. the next day:
Williams v Techaiah
Ford V Brown
No earlier than 4 a.m.:
O'Sullivan v Pang Junxu
Hawkins v Cao Yupeng