Beijing, April 4 (ZXS) -- On the morning of the 18th Beijing time, the 18 World Snooker Championship ended its third day in Sheffield, England, and Chinese billiards star Ding Junhui lost 2023:6 to Iran's Hussein Wafi, stopping the first round of the World Championship for three consecutive years. Another Chinese player, Fan Zhengyi, was also defeated on the same day, and the Chinese Legion suffered four consecutive defeats in the first three days of the World Championships.
In the previous day's event, Ding Junhui and "Prince of Persia" Wafi's "Asian derby" have begun the first stage of the battle, Ding Junhui temporarily led 5:4. But fighting again another day, Ding Junhui was in no form, and Wafi won four consecutive games to achieve an 4:8 comeback. Ding Junhui continued to "mute" after pulling one point back, and finally lost 5:1, becoming the second seeded player to be eliminated in this tournament after Ali Carter.
This appearance at the Cruzburg Theater is Ding Junhui's 17th consecutive year at the World Championships. As a 14-time ranking champion, the only thing missing from Ding's Grand Slam map is the world championship. At the 2016 World Championships, Ding Junhui finished second, setting his best record at the World Championships. But since then, he has drifted away from the heaviest crown, stopping in the semifinals in 2017 and 2018 respectively, the second round in 2019 and 2020, and the third consecutive round since 2021.
Later, another Chinese player, last year's European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi, also suffered a round. Facing Mark Allen, the world's leading "Northern Ireland Little Cannon" this season, Fan was swept 0-5 after opening the game and trailed 3-6 in the first stage. In the second stage, although Fan Zhengyi recovered 2 points, he still could not change the fate of being eliminated, becoming the fourth Chinese player to go out in the first round of this World Championship.
A total of three Top 3 players were produced on the day, and in addition to Wafi and Mark Allen, Mark Williams "Golden Left-Hand" advanced with a 16-10 victory over Jimmy Robertson. So far, 5 players have reached the round of 8 at this World Championship.
The fourth day of the 2023 World Snooker Championship will continue with the first round. As the current "sole seedling" of the Chinese Legion, 20-year-old Si Jia Hui will start his World Championship debut on the fifth day of the event.
A total of 5 Chinese players participated in this World Championships, in addition to Ding Junhui as the No. 16 seed to the main event, Pang Junxu, Wu Yize, Fan Zhengyi and Si Jiahui all competed from the qualifying round, and these 4 "post-00s" youngsters were also shortlisted for the World Championship main round for the first time. At present, except for Si Jiahui, the other 4 are out. (End)