Inventory of the changes in China’s power in the World Championships last year
After a week of fierce competition, the 2018 Snooker World Championships qualifiers are all over. As for the Chinese players, Xiao Guodong and Lu Haotian successfully got the tickets to Crucible. Among them, Lu Haotian won the right to participate in the World Championships for the first time. With the addition of Ding Junhui and Fu Jiajun in the free qualifying round, there will be four Chinese in the race. The contestants appeared. From the perspective of the last ten years, such a lineup, no more, no less, truly reflects the overall strength of the current Chinese players.
Looking back at the history of the World Championships, Chinese players have emerged from scratch, and overall they are on the rise. From 1999 to 2006, at the main stadium of the World Championships, Fu Jiajun was the only Chinese face. In 2007 and 2008, Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo joined one after another. Since then, Ding Junhui has appeared as a seed most of the time, and has not been absent since then (only dropped into the qualifying game once and successfully scored in the main game). Liang Wenbo wandered outside the TOP16 for a long time and had to accept the qualification baptism, so he was blocked from the main game for nearly half of the time.
The 2008 World Championships ushered in four Chinese players for the first time. In addition to Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun and Liang Wenbo, there is also Liu Chuang, a former professional golfer under the age of 18. At that time, Liu Chuang was the fourth player in the World Championships at only 17 years old after Hendry, O’Sullivan and Trump. In the first round, Liu Chuang drew a thriving O’Sullivan, the teenager fell behind 0-3 4-4 to draw the Rockets, and finally ended his debut 5-10.
The 2009 World Championships returned to the “three-person turn” of Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun and Liang Wenbo. Four people in 2010, the new face is Zhang Anda from Guangdong. After breaking into the main game, he made the seven-time World Championship champion Hendry difficult in the first round with 9-10, almost forcing the billiards emperor to announce his retirement two years in advance.
In 2011, Ding Junhui and Fu Jiajun struggled to support the facade. However, Ding Junhui won the top 4 results for the first time in this competition.
In 2012, the Chinese Army surged to 5 people. In addition to Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun, Liang Wenbo and Liu Chuang, there was also Cao Yupeng from Guangdong. But that has become his only trip to the World Championships so far. This season, although Cao Yupeng bravely entered the ranking finals twice and ushered in a new professional high, he still missed the taste of the World Championships.
In 2013, there were only Ding Junhui and Fu Jiajun. In 2014, in addition to Ding Junhui and Fu Jiajun, Chongqing player Xiao Guodong made his debut at Cruze.
Next, Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun and Zhang Anda will appear in the 2015 World Championships. In 2016, Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun, Liang Wenbo and Zhang Anda fought side by side. It is worth mentioning that Ding Junhui unfortunately fell into the qualifying round that year, and instead broke into the final historically, setting an Asian player’s best record in the World Championships.
Last year, there were six Chinese players, namely Ding Junhui, Fu Jiajun, Liang Wenbo, Xiao Guodong, Zhou Yuelong and Yan Bingtao. The number was the highest in history. On the one hand, Liang Wenbo, who played as a seed for the first time, strengthened the power of the Chinese Army. On the other hand, Zhou Yuelong and Yan Bingtao made their debut in Crucible, which also demonstrated the impressive stamina of the Chinese Army.
This season, although the strength of the Chinese Army has further expanded. However, to prove themselves in the most competitive World Championships, many players still have a longer way to go. After all, snooker is a personal project, and the number of people cannot determine the performance.
