On April 23, Beijing time, the World Snooker Championship entered the 4th day of competition, the event is the highest level of snooker, entering the main match is entering the top 32, with a guaranteed income of 20,000 pounds, and the championship prize money alone is as high as 500,000 pounds, which is not counting the hidden income of other advertising endorsements, the World Championship championship is the ultimate dream of all snooker professional players!
According to the rules of the tournament, the top 16 players in the season will advance directly to the main event, and the remaining players will go through four rounds of qualifying rounds to determine 16 places, and join the top 16 seeds to come to Crucible to compete for the final championship!
In the end, 3 Chinese players broke through from the qualifying round, namely Si Jiahui, Lu Haotian, Pang Junxu, plus Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda, who directly advanced to the main competition, so far a total of 5 Chinese players have the opportunity to appear in Crucible. (The details of the main match are shown in the chart)
According to the rules, the first round of the main competition (1/16 finals) adopts a 19-game 10-win system, which is divided into 2 periods (9 rounds/10 rounds), the 1/8 finals and 1/4 finals adopt a 25-game 13-win system, which is divided into 3 periods (8 rounds/8 rounds/9 rounds), the semi-finals adopt a 33-17 system, divided into 4 stages (8 rounds/8 rounds/8 rounds/9 rounds), and the final adopts a 35-game 18-win system, which is also divided into 4 stages (8 rounds/9 rounds/8 rounds/10 rounds).
At present, the first round of the main tournament is the 1/16 finals, which has ended 8 games, and the champions and runners-up of last year's World Championships have encountered a round of tours, which is unexpected!
Game 1 of the first round of the main event: Gilbert 10-9 Brechel
Belgian Brecel is the defending champion, 29 years old, ranked No. 4 in the world, and last year he topped Crucible to become the third non-British champion in the history of the World Snooker Championship. Coming to this season, Brecel is not in good shape, and the best result in the ranking tournament is only the top 8.
Englishman David Gilbert is 42 years old, ranked 31st in the world, his best result in the World Championships is the semifinals, he has not won a ranking tournament in his career, and his overall strength is average. In the first round of this World Championships, he encountered the defending champion Brecel, and it can be said that the signing is not good.
However, Gilbert fought back after falling behind 3-6 in the first stage, and finally defeated the defending champion "Belgian Bullet" Brecel 10-9, breaking the first upset of this Snooker World Championship!
Match 2 of the first round of the main event: Jack Jones 10-4 Anda
Zhang Anda, 32 years old, ranked 11th in the world, ushered in a big explosion this season, won the Snooker International Championship, and won the first ranking championship in his career, and is also the seventh Chinese player to win the championship in the snooker ranking tournament.
In addition, Zhang Anda also reached the finals of the English Open and the Players Championship this season, and with 1 championship and 2 runners-up in a single season, he advanced to the top 16 in the world, and finally advanced to the main match of the World Snooker Championship as the No. 11 seed.
Jack Jones is 44 years old, ranked 44th in the world, and his overall career performance is unremarkable, and he has not achieved good results, but in the first round of this Snooker World Championship, facing the No. 11 seed Chinese player Zhang Anda, he showed a good state, defeated Zhang Anda 10-4 and advanced to the round of 16, which is also the second consecutive upset in the Snooker World Championship!
Game 3 of the first round of the main event: Trump 10-5 Wafai
Trump is 34 years old, ranked No. 2 in the world, one of the "80 Five Tigers", and has won a total of 28 ranking tournaments in his career and is a Grand Slam player. This season's state is very hot, winning 5 championships and 3 runners-up, and he is the favorite to win the World Snooker Championship.
Iranian Hussein Wafi, 40 years old, ranked 19th in the world, as a player from Asia, can break through from the qualifying round twice in a row and enter the main match of the World Snooker Championship, he still has a certain strength.
However, Wafei did not sign well, and met the favorite Trump in the first round, but Trump did not give his opponent a chance to upset, defeated his opponent 10-5, and advanced to the round of 16!
Match 4 of the first round of the main event: Maguire 10-7 Ali Carter
Ali Carter is 44 years old, ranked 9th in the world, has won 5 ranking championships in his career, and has reached the finals of the Wuhan Open and Masters in a row this season, both with a score of 7-10, losing to Trump and O'Sullivan respectively, but the results of 2 runners-up in a single season also made Ali Carter come to the stage of this Snooker World Championship as the No. 9 seed.
The 43-year-old, ranked 28th in the world and having won six ranking tournaments in his career, has not been in good form this season, facing Ali Carter in the first round of the World Championships, and is not favored to win.
However, Maguire fought back from 3-5 down at half-time, played a 7-2 score in the second half, and finally reversed Ali Carter 10-7, and the third upset of the first round of the main match appeared.
Game 5 of the first round of the main event: Tom Forde 10-6 Rich Wharton
Tom Forde, 40 years old, ranked 14th in the world, has not won a ranking championship in his career so far, broke into the final of the Snooker International Championship this season, and finally lost to Chinese player Zhang Anda 6-10, but the world ranking has also come to the top 16, directly advancing to the main match of the World Snooker Championship.
Rich Wharton, 41, ranked 32nd in the world, has won one ranking tournament in his career, but it was only 10 years ago that he won the International Snooker Championship.
In this snooker championship, Rich Wharton's draw is not bad, facing Tom Forde in the first round, he has a chance to win, but he did not grasp the opportunity to win against Trump, and was eliminated by Tom Forde 6-10 in the first round.
Game 6 of the first round of the main event: Shaun Murphy 10-5 Lu Haotian
Murphy is 41 years old, ranked 8th in the world, has won 12 ranking tournaments in his career, and is also one of the "80 Five Tigers", a Grand Slam player, with strong strength, won the Champions League at the beginning of this season, and played in this Snooker World Championship as the No. 8 seed.
Lu Haotian is 26 years old, ranked 26th in the world, and his more eye-catching results this season are the 5-1 victory over O'Sullivan in the 1/4 finals of the Wuhan Open, which left a very deep impression on many fans, but then lost to Ali Carter in the semifinals and did not go further.
In this year's Snooker World Championships, Lu Haotian was able to break through from the qualifying round to advance to the main event, with a guaranteed income of 20,000 pounds, and the overall performance was still remarkable. However, the draw was not good, and he faced Grand Slam player Shaun Murphy in the first round, and the final 5-10 defeat was also expected by fans.
Match 7 of the first round of the main event: Joe O'Connor 10-6 Selby
Selby is 40 years old, ranked 5th in the world, has won 22 ranking tournaments in his career, and is a double-lap Grand Slam player, although the number of championships is not as many as Trump, but he has won the World Championship 4 times, and the gold content is extremely high, and he can definitely rank first among the "80 Five Tigers"! Selby has a calm style of play and is famous for his defense, and the reputation of "King of Grinding" comes from this.
At 27 years old, ranked 30th in the world, O'Connor has had a mediocre career and clearly can't match Selby. However, Selby's form in the last two seasons has not been good, and the young O'Connor is not without opportunities, but O'Connor really created a miracle, eliminating the world champion Selby 10-6 in the first round of the World Championships, and breaking out the fourth upset in the first round of this World Championships.
Game 8 of the first round of the main event: Bingham 10-5 Wilson
Gary Wilson is 38 years old, ranked 10th in the world, has won a total of 3 ranking championships in his career, and won 2 championships this season, which is enough to show that Gary Wilson is still in very good shape this season.
Bingham, 47, ranked 29th in the world, has won six ranking tournaments in his career, including the World Championship in 2015, but then Bingham has been deeply involved in the gambling turmoil, which has also become the biggest stain on his career.
Coming to the stage of this World Snooker Championship, Gary Wilson did not continue his hot form this season, facing the former world champion Bingham, losing 5-10, becoming the fifth seeded player to lose in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.
In addition to the 8 1/16 finals that have been concluded above, Chinese players Si Jiahui and Pang Junxu have also made their debuts, currently Si Jiahui 4-5 Mark Williams and Pang Junxu 5-4 Milkins.
At 21:30 Beijing time on April 23, the second phase of the match between Si Jiahui and Uncle Ma started, and at 2 a.m. on April 24, the second phase of Pang Junxu and Milkins started, wishing the two Chinese players a good performance.
At 17:00 on April 23, Ding Junhui, the "first brother" of Chinese snooker, will appear on the stage against the English player Lisowski, who is 5 years younger than him. Ding Junhui has won a total of 14 ranking tournaments in his career and is one of the "80 Five Tigers".
However, at present, Ding Junhui is just short of the World Championships championship, and he can achieve a Grand Slam in his career. In this competition, Ding Junhui once again hit the World Championships, wishing Ding Junhui good luck!