Beijing time on November 2 news, the 2021 Snooker England Open kicked off. In a postponed qualifying match, Masters champion Yan Bingtao continued his recent good form, defeating Aaron Hill 4-1 to advance to the main tournament. In another focus game, 6-time Champion "Rockets" Ronnie O'Sullivan blasted a 1-100 and a 3-shot 50+ to beat David Lilly 4-1 to advance to the regular game.
Yan Bingtao, the post-00s Masters champion, is currently ranked 13th in the world and is the most stable player among Chinese players in recent times, ranking in the TOP16. Recently, he has performed very well at the Northern Ireland Open (Main), the German Masters Qualifiers, and the European Masters Qualifiers. Among them, in the third round of the Northern Ireland Tournament, he defeated the "Rockets" O'Sullivan 4-3.
In the German Masters Qualifiers and the European Masters Qualifiers, in the qualifiers of these two events, Yan Bingtao scored into the main tournament with a three-consecutive victory record. With his recent good form, Yan Bingtao came to the England Open, a postponed qualifying match, against the young Aaron Hill, who was ranked 83rd in the world.
In the past, Yan Bingtao and Hill only had one record of meeting, and Yan Bingtao won the game. That match took place in the fourth round of the 2020 Snooker European Masters, with Yan Bingtao winning 5-1. After a year of fighting again, Yan Bingtao still has a clear advantage. In the first set of the game, the two played more glue, Yan Bingtao won 57-44, 1-0 opener.
In the second set, Hill scored a 60-pointer to keep a 95-0 clean sheet and equalize 1-1. In the third set, Yan Bingtao once again had the advantage, he won 90-9 through several starts, and led again 2-1. In the fourth set, Yan Bingtao scored a single 63 points to win another set 96-19, the score came to 3-1 and won two match points.
In the fifth set, the desperate Hill was unstoppable, Yan Bingtao played a single 75 points, 122-8 to lock in the win, the total score of 4-1 win to advance.