Snooker Grand Prix: Zhang Anda edges Zhou Yuelong 6-5, Zhao Xintong beats Xiao Guodong 6-3, final schedule announced

On February 7th Beijing time, the two semifinals of the Snooker World Grand Prix concluded. Zhang Anda narrowly defeated Zhou Yuelong 6-5 to secure his spot in the final first. Shortly after, Zhao Xintong powered through with a 6-3 victory over Xiao Guodong to also advance to the final. Thus, the final of this tournament will be contested between Zhao Xintong and Zhang Anda, with matches scheduled for today at 1 PM and 7 PM!

Zhang Anda is ranked 23rd globally and once claimed the China Championship title. However, he then went through a prolonged slump without winning another title, dropping out of the top sixteen in the world rankings. In this event, he caused consecutive upsets by defeating Mark Williams and Joe Hawkins to reach the quarterfinals, then eliminated the aggressive player Wu Yize in a derby match to reach the semifinals. Zhou Yuelong, ranked 30th worldwide, has reached several ranking finals in his career but still seeks his first title, making him eager to reach the final. The match started slowly, with both players taking long to think, but Zhou took the initiative with a winning break of 66 points to lead. Zhang Anda responded with two winning frames to lead 2-1. Zhou fought back with a mix of offense and defense to win two frames, taking a 3-2 lead. Zhang Anda made a century break to level at 3-3. Zhou won a fragmented frame to lead 4-3. Zhang quickly countered with a 50+ break and a century to get match point at 5-4. Zhou scored 82 points in one break to tie 5-5. The deciding frame was intense with chances for both, but Zhou felt more pressure, and Zhang calmly secured it 60-50, advancing to a ranking final again in his career!

Zhao Xintong faced Xiao Guodong. Both are ranked in the top sixteen, with Zhao eighth and Xiao tenth. They had both defeated strong opponents to reach the semifinals, making this a highly anticipated top-level clash. The first frame saw fierce competition, with Xiao overturning the frame with a big break to lead 1-0. Zhao then won two consecutive frames with breaks over 50 to lead 2-1. Xiao fought back strongly with a solid 72-point break to tie 2-2. Zhao then unleashed sharp offense, scoring three straight breaks over 50, taking the score to 5-2 and gaining match point. Xiao did not give up, scoring 63 points in one break to narrow it to 3-5. However, in the ninth frame, Zhao’s accuracy was unbeatable, as he quickly compiled a century break to decisively end the match 6-3, advancing to another ranking final after the World Championship!

Written by / Sports Novel