Beijing, March 3 (ZXS) -- On the morning of March 31, Beijing time, the 31 Snooker Tour Championship ended in the last match of the first round in the United Kingdom, and England's Mark Selby defeated Welsh player Ryan Day 2023:10, helping Chinese billiards "brother" Ding Junhui to qualify for the main stage of this season's World Championships.
The 2023 Snooker Tour Championship is the 14th ranking tournament of the World Snooker Tour this season, and only the top eight players in a single season are eligible to participate, and only Ding Junhui of the Chinese players is shortlisted as the eighth in the season. The tournament is also the final ranking tournament before the World Snooker Championship this season, and will determine the final seats and rankings of the top 16 players who will go straight to the World Championship main event.
Based on the world rankings and points situation before the event, Ding Junhui will have to compete with Ryan Day in the Tour Championship and Gary Wilson, who missed the Tour Championship, for the last two direct World Championship spots.
In the opening match of the Tour Championship, Ding Junhui defeated Mark Allen, who is ranked third in the world and far ahead this season, 10-5 to advance to the semifinals. If Ryan Day stops in the first round, Ding Junhui will join hands with Gary Wilson to go straight to the World Championship; If Ryan Day passes the first round, Ding Junhui needs to advance to the final to qualify directly.
Ryan Day's opponent in the first round is Mark Selby, who is currently ranked second in the world and is expected to attack O'Sullivan's dominance. Selby was aggressive from the start, finishing the first phase 2-0 after leading the first two sets 6-2. It is worth mentioning that Ryan Day shot a one-shot 147 in the third inning, the first perfect score in the history of the Tour tournament to date.
At the start of the second period, Selby still took the lead, extending the lead to 8-2. Ryan Day then fought back, winning three straight games to tie the score to 3:5 and chase two match points in a row after Selby led 8:9. At the crucial moment, Selby seized the opportunity and shot a one-shot 5 to win 77-10, becoming the last player in the tournament to advance to the final four. While Ryan Day missed the semi-finals, he also ruined his last hope of going straight to the World Championships.
From the evening of March 3 to the early morning of April 31, Beijing time, Ding Junhui will face the "strongest post-4s" Kyren Wilson in the first semi-final of this tour championship, and the other semifinal will be between Selby and world number six Sean Murphy. (End)