Snooker Report! Four Quarterfinalists Emerge, Two Chinese Players Suffer Heavy Defeats, Substitute Wins 6-1, Selby Advances

On February 18th Beijing time, the Snooker Players Championship commenced, with four matches completed. Chinese player Wu Yize was defeated 3-6 by Mark Allen. Substitute Higgins, replacing O'Sullivan, surged impressively to beat the Melbourne Machine Robertson 6-1. Selby eliminated Lisowski 6-3, and Wakelin overwhelmed Xiao Guodong 5-2. Thus, four quarterfinal slots are filled by Mark Allen, Robertson, Lisowski, and Wakelin, while the two Chinese players, Wu Yize and Xiao Guodong, have been knocked out and sent home!

Wu Yize faced Mark Allen. This match was the opener. Against the experienced and defensively strong post-80s star Mark Allen, Wu Yize made many basic errors. Although he took the first frame to lead, Mark Allen’s precise accuracy allowed him to seize opportunities and launch a 4-0 scoring run, expanding his lead to 4-1. In the sixth frame, Wu Yize scored a 70-point break to shut out his opponent and slightly narrow the gap to 2-4. However, in the seventh frame, Mark Allen steadily won the scrappy battle to reach 5-2 and secure a match point. Wu Yize fought hard in the eighth frame amid chaos to win and pull back to 3-5. But in the ninth frame, Mark Allen returned with a strong attack, delivering a commanding 93-point break to seal a 6-3 victory over Wu Yize!

Higgins versus Robertson. Two Grand Slam champions clashed in a peak battle between the ’75 Three Giants and the ’80s Five Tigers. Higgins was lucky to enter the tournament due to O'Sullivan's withdrawal. He showed explosive form, combining offense and defense to open with a 3-0 scoring streak, taking a 3-0 lead. Robertson, sensing trouble, fought back with a 73-50 frame win to stop the bleeding at 1-3. However, Robertson couldn’t maintain momentum, as Higgins quickly struck again with another 3-0 run, finishing with a commanding 6-1 victory. Higgins was truly unstoppable!

In the two matches that concluded early this morning, four-time World Champion Selby displayed excellent skills on both offense and defense, overpowering the talented post-90s player Lisowski 6-3. Meanwhile, Chinese star Xiao Guodong was off form, making frequent mistakes and showing poor accuracy, quickly collapsing to a 2-6 defeat against the rapidly improving and tough Wakelin. Both players lost in similar fashion, falling behind early and ultimately suffering heavy defeats!

Written by / Sports Novel