4-2! The Chinese star upset the world's third, Ding Junhui won a big victory, O'Sullivan killed, and the top 8 were born
In the early morning of January 19, Beijing time, the top 8 of the 2024 Snooker World Grand Prix were all released, and in the remaining four 1/8 finals, Chinese star Zhang Anda knocked out the world's third Mark Allen 4-2, Ding Junhui beat Sancam 4-1 with a single shot to break 100, O'Sullivan beat Zhou Yuelong 4-3, and Gary Wilson defeated Tom Ford 4-2.
This season, Zhang Anda won the National Championship and is currently in the best period of his career, and the world ranking has entered the top 16 ranks. Mark Allen is also in excellent shape, this season has won the championship of the championship and the single-game limited time tournament 2 championships, the Snooker Masters that just ended, Mark Allen even played a single stroke 147 and reached the top 4. Mark Allen is the 10-time winner of the ranking tournament, has won the British Championship and the Masters, is only one World Championship away from the Snooker Grand Slam honor, and is currently ranked third in the world. However, in this campaign, Zhang Anda scored 95 points in the first game of the opening game, Mark Allen entered the state slowly, Zhang Anda seized the opportunity to win two more games, and led 3-0 with a total score.
Mark Allen, who had no way out, won the fourth game by breaking 137 points with a single stroke, successfully pulling back a game and saving a match point. Then, with multiple chances, Mark Allen won again 64-42 and saved the second match point. In the sixth game, Zhang Anda finally seized the opportunity and won 71-15, eliminating the defending champion Mark Allen with a total score of 4-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Ding Junhui, the first brother of Chinese snooker, faced the Thai star Sankham in this round, Ding Junhui entered the state quickly, and as soon as he came up, he broke 101 points with a single stroke and won the first game. Immediately afterwards, Ding Junhui won the second game 54-1 and established a 2-0 lead. Sancam scored 86 points in the third game to win the game 142-0. Ding Junhui returned a shot of 92 points in the fourth game and took the lead in getting the match point. In the fifth game, Ding Junhui won 79-41, successfully cashed in the match point, and defeated Sancam with a total score of 4-1 to advance. In the next round of 8-in-4 rounds, Ding Junhui will stage a Chinese snooker derby with Zhang Anda, and the winner will enter the semifinals, hoping to touch the world's No. 1 O'Sullivan.
Rocket O'Sullivan just won the Masters championship, and immediately threw himself into the competition for this Snooker World Grand Prix without any rest, for the 48-year-old O'Sullivan, physical fitness and energy are tests. After eliminating Pang Junxu 4-2 in the first round, O'Sullivan continued to play against Chinese players in the second round, against Zhou Yuelong, who eliminated Maguire. After the opening, O'Sullivan scored 67 points, 107 points, and 50 points in a single stroke in a row, and Zhou Yuelong also scored 55 points, 76 points, and 102 points in a single stroke, and the first four games were 2-2 draws. O'Sullivan won the fifth game and took the lead to get the match point. Zhou Yuelong scored 65 points in a single stroke to save the match point. In the deciding game, O'Sullivan won the game with a score of 90 points.
With the end of the second round of the second half of the region, the top 8 of this year's Snooker World Grand Prix were all born, and the specific matchups were: the first half, Trump Selby, Mark Williams Cao Yupeng, and the second half, Zhang Anda Ding Junhui, O'Sullivan Gary Wilson.