Four players from the Snooker Masters have reached the quarterfinals! Four matches ended 6-2, with three Chinese players advancing, Zhao Xintong unstoppable.

On January 13th Beijing time, the Masters round of 16 continued with two more intense battles concluded. Mark Allen defeated Mark Williams 6-2, and Zhao Xintong beat Gary Wilson 6-2. This means four quarterfinal spots are secured: Wu Yize, Xiao Guodong, Mark Allen, and Zhao Xintong. China remains undefeated with three players advancing to the last eight, which is truly exciting!

Mark Allen faced Mark Williams in what was a highlight match. Allen came out fierce, quickly taking the lead with a 67-point break against one of the Triple Crown champions, Mark Williams. Williams fought back in a tight contest, winning two frames to take a 2-1 lead. However, the momentum then swung heavily in Allen’s favor. Williams’ form cooled dramatically with numerous errors, while Allen’s precision sharpened, delivering a century break and three 50+ breaks. He dominated by winning five consecutive frames in a powerful streak, pulling off a stunning upset to reach the quarterfinals!

Zhao Xintong played against Gary Wilson. Although Zhao is the new World Champion, his ranking event results this season have been poor, but he shone at the lucrative Riyadh Masters invitational, where he won the title. The Masters is one of the three major tournaments, and Zhao is just one step away from completing the career Triple Crown, with a prize of £350,000 motivating him greatly. His first-round draw against Wilson was favorable. In the opening frame, Zhao started slowly with several basic errors on reds, allowing Wilson to take the first frame with a winning break. Then Zhao unleashed his precision, sinking difficult shots smoothly like flowing water, quickly compiling four 50+ breaks and winning four frames in a row to lead 4-1. Wilson managed to stop the bleeding by taking the sixth frame with some small breaks. The crucial seventh frame was a tense battle, but Zhao held steady to narrowly win 61-53. In the eighth frame, Zhao came back strongly with a clean 67 break to finish the match 6-2, securing a commanding victory and advancing to the quarterfinals!

All four first-round matches ended with a 6-2 scoreline, a rare sight indeed. Even more surprising is that all three Chinese players won their matches, guaranteeing at least one semifinalist from China. Next up, Ding Junhui and Si Jiahui will compete, and we hope both can secure wins. Keep it up!

Written by / Sports Novel