Masters opener gold wins with left hand, Selby loses fatal red ball and loses
News from the official website of the Chinese Billiards Association On the evening of January 14, Beijing time, the annual Snooker Masters started at Alexandra Palace in London, England. In the opening game, Mark Williams, one of the 75 best players, opened the game with 135 points in a single shot. Selby came from behind to win the match point 5-3. Fighting hard until the final game, Selby fell short on the last red ball. Williams won thrillingly and advanced to the top 8. In the quarter-finals, Williams will face the winners of Hawkins and Karen Wilson.
The Masters is an invitational tournament. However, due to the generous prize money and only open to the top 16 players in the world, the Masters has been regarded as the “three major tournaments” of snooker along with the World Championships and the British Championships. In his career, Selby has reached the final five times and won three championships, leaving the other 80 players far behind.
Williams has also accounted for two titles, but compared with O’Sullivan and Higgins in the 75 three masters, Kim’s left hand is obviously downhill. In the past four years, Kim has been blocked from the Masters twice with his left hand, and both times he played early rounds. However, this season he showed signs of recovery. Two months ago, in the Northern Ireland Open final, he defeated Yan Bingtao, a teenager born in China after 00, and ended the six-year ranking championship drought. The “most accurate man” returned.
As expected, Williams scored 135 points and 89 points in a single stroke as soon as he came up in the game, forcing the world’s number one to sit in a chair for a long time as a spectator.
But Selby’s hand feel didn’t get cold. After adjustment, Selby successfully launched a counterattack, stabilized the position with 70 points on a single stroke, and tied the score with 73-4. Then he scored 70 points on a single stroke and achieved a 3-2 lead after winning three consecutive games.
In the sixth inning, Williams regained control of the game and shook hands with Selby 3-3 with 81 points. However, the good times did not last long. In the seventh game, Williams could not find a chance to play the ball. Selby won the game 82-9 and scored 4-3. After Selby succeeded, he scored 76 points on a single stroke and took the lead to lead the match point 5-3.
In the ninth game, Selby fought into the far stage. The result was bad luck and the black ball was pocketed. Williams was not ideal when he scored a 40-point lead in the middle of the game, failed to make the ball, and the offense was interrupted. Selby had the opportunity to lock the victory directly, scoring 47 points in a row and accidentally lost the red ball. Williams came back to life and saved a match point 74-47.
In the tenth game, Williams fell behind 0-32. In the process of chasing points, he risked himself to snooker. Faced with a very tricky middle bag, Williams thought for 2 minutes before deciding to take the shot. In, a single shot with 59 points and missed the penultimate red ball, but fortunately did not leave a good opportunity for Selby. After a few shots of defense, Selby tried to miss the far station, and the red ball stayed in the pocket corner. Williams dragged the game into the deciding game in one fell swoop.
It is worth mentioning that in the first round of the Masters last year, the two sides also fought hard to the final game, when Selby was in danger. However, this time, Goddess of Luck was on the side of the opponent. At that time, he was 39 points behind and quickly completed the overtake. However, facing the last red ball that was not difficult, Selby was distracted and missed. Obviously, Selby was very annoyed by this mistake and bit the club with his teeth exaggeratedly. Williams got up to seal the victory, so that the world’s No. 1 suffered a round trip, Williams took the lead to advance to the top 8.
Signature: Star Billiards
