There are only 2 seeds in the British Championships in 20 years, the most unexpected top 8 4 years ago, TOP16 had swept

The 2017 Snooker Championship is the coldest one in the past 20 years. The top 8 is produced, O’Sullivan and Murphy are struggling to support the appearance. Looking back on the past 20 years, the top 8 of the British Championships have been swept by TOP16 players twice, and most of the time the seeds are more than 4 people. This year is the biggest exception.

The British Championship has a long history, and its status in the minds of players is second only to the World Championships. It can be said that the strategist is a battleground. Historically, this place has always been an important occasion for popular candidates to show their strength. Among other things, the clues can be seen from the composition of the previous top 8 players.

Due to the many changes in the British Championships system, we will start from 1997, which is the closest to the present. In the past 20 years, except for very few years, only 3 seeds have appeared in the top 8; most of the other time, the seeds are more than 4 people. During this period, there has not been a situation where there are only 2 seeds.

In the 2001 British Championships, the top 8 was swept by TOP16 seeds, and all of them were TOP8. At that time, the top 16 players in the world ranked directly into the top 32 competition system. O’Sullivan won the championship that time, and he swept Dahdi 10-1 in the final.

Ding Junhui has won the British Championship twice, for the first time in 2005, when he entered the main game with the No. 62 player from the qualifying round, and then defeated Steve Davis in the final. There were 4 seeds in the top 8 of that session.

In 2009, Ding Junhui won the championship for the second time. At that time, he was the 13th seed in the tournament. In the final, he defeated the No. 2 seed Higgins. That year, there were as many as 6 seeds in the top 8 and the competition was very fierce. The other two non-seeded players are Liang Wenbo and Peter Lanes from the qualifying rounds.

Since 2011, the British Championship has been changed to a short game system. Although many players have protested, popular players still play the leading role, and the powerful players have not been affected much. Six of the top 8 players that year were seeded, protesting that the most exaggerated No. 12 seed Allen made it to the final for the first time. There were as many as 7 seeds in the top 8 the following year, with the only exception being Brecher who played from the first round of the qualifying round (a total of four rounds).

2013 was a new watershed. The British Championships were changed to a flat format with 128 players starting from the first round. Although the TOP16 seeds complained, but in the face of the huge temptation of the second big game, they talked a hundred reluctance, but their actions betrayed their true ideas, and the top 8 tickets were all taken by them. In fact, there were only two players outside the 16th place in the top 16. In the end, No. 3 seed Robertson won the championship. He defeated No. 1 seed Selby in the final.

After 2014, there were 5 seeds in the top 8 and 4 in 2015. Last year, 6 TOP16 seeds were selected as the top 8 and the British Championships continued their unshakable status in the three major tournaments.

However, this year’s ups and downs have gone viral. No. 2 seed Ding Junhui planted in the first round, defending champion Selby, now ranked number one in the world, fell to the top 64. After that, the seeds were largely out of the game, and only half of the fourth round was finished, leaving only two players to support the situation. In the final eight, only two TOP16 seeds were shortlisted, which is the first time in the history of the British Championships in the past 20 years.

Whether the British Championships can turn from cold to hot in the remaining time depends on the performance of No. 5 seed Murphy and No. 7 seed O’Sullivan. In the quarter-finals, O’Sullivan’s opponent was Gould, and Murphy played against Mark King.