The 2021 World Snooker Northern Ireland Open Qualifier and the United Kingdom Tournament, which just ended yesterday, ended the first day of competition in the early morning of August 24, Beijing time. China's players won 2 and lost 3, Lu Ning and Cao Yupeng reached the round of 64, and Zhao Xintong, Zhang Anda and Chang Bingyu lost and did not have the opportunity to advance.
The Northern Ireland Open fixture is scheduled for 128 players to play a qualifying round, with the winner receiving a ticket to the main tournament. The qualifiers will be held in two phases, the first stage will be held in Leicester, the host of the British tournament from August 23 to 27 local time, with a total of 45 matches, and the second stage of the qualifiers will be connected with the main tournament, and on October 9 at the Belfast exhibition , the top 16 seeded players and some wild card players will appear in the second stage.
Ronin did well last week, breaking into the top 8 of the British Open with £12,000 in prize money and climbing to 34th in the world rankings. In this Northern Ireland qualifier, Rouning is played against Scotland's Donaldson, who has defeated Ding Junhui more than once in the previous two seasons, and Runin wrestles with his opponent to reach the decider, and finally beats Donaldson 4-3 and walks with his head held high into the main tournament that will start in October. Ronin's first opponent in the main tournament has been identified as Jamie O'Neal, who is ranked 115th in the world and beat Michael Junch, who is also ranked 100 miles away, 4-2 in qualifying. After entering the main tournament, the players can receive a prize of £3,000 on the bottom.
China's players Chang Bingyu, Zhao Xintong and Zhang Anda played after Lu Ning, and they all suffered defeats and regretted to stop qualifying. Among them, Chang Bingyu lost 2-4 to James Cahill, who played in place of Dortmund with a wild card; Zhao Xintong had poor signing luck and met "Wales Dragon" Stevens, losing 3-4 in seven sets; Zhang Anda lost 2-4 to 4 veteran O'Brien.
Cao Yupeng, who lifted the ban this season, defeated Zhao Xintong 3-2 at the British Open and lost 2-3 to Higgins, and overall the strength is still online. Today, against Robbie Williams, Cao Yupeng once went 0-2, 1-3 behind a 3-60+ opponent in the first four sets, but he won three consecutive sets and won 4-3. Cao Yupeng also played a total of three 60+ in the game, and in the sixth and seventh innings, he shot down 95 and 65 points respectively.
On the second day of the qualification round, three players from China, Tian Pengfei, Lei Peifan and Fan Zhengyi, will appear successively. Tian Pengfei's opponents are Mardoks, Lei Peifan Jackson Page, and Fan Zhengyi is facing wild card player David Li Li. In terms of foreign players, the "captain" Carter who bombed 147 in the British tournament and the Thai star Tachaia will also play for the qualification of the main tournament.
The Northern Ireland Open is an influential traditional snooker ranking tournament that preceded Trump's three-game winning streak for three years. The defending champions have just lost their No. 1 position in the world rankings, and the pressure to keep points this season is not small. In addition to Ding Junhui, the remaining 15 of the top 16 players all signed up for the Northern Ireland Open, and Zhou Yuelong, who is ranked 17th in the world, was promoted to the 16th seed of the tournament.
Ding Junhui revealed through social media yesterday that he is preparing to go abroad, which means that he is not far from the day when he returns to the world snooker professional arena. We look forward to the flag bearer of the Chinese snooker Brigade in the British Army to reproduce the true colors of the Asian king in the new season and bring highlights to the majority of fans.