On May 7, 2022, the World Taiwan Federation announced six awards. Chinese snooker was on the list. Zhao Xintong won the best athlete award in the fans' vote, with a support rate exceeding O'Sullivan. In addition, 18-year-old rising star Wu Yize won the best newcomer award. For two consecutive years, the best newcomers belong to Chinese players. Last year it was Pang Junxu and this year it was Wu Yize. They have all achieved certain results in the professional arena.
The Best Newcomer Award is special. There are strict selection criteria. Most players do not meet the requirements. They must be in the first season of their career and have played professional games before. Those who come back after being demoted are not counted. Wu Yize is the only newcomer in Chinese snooker this season. People like Zhang Anda and Cao Yupeng all returned and were once active in the professional arena, but were eventually demoted due to various reasons.
Wu Yize meets all the conditions for the award. This 18-year-old rising star has passed the domestic selection competition and obtained two seasons of professional qualifications. Now the first season is over. His best result is the third round of British Championship , where he lost to Karen Wilson . In addition, he and O'Sullivan once played against each other. At that time, Wu Yize lost to O'Sullivan 1-5. In World Championship, defeated Browning to advance, and then lost to Lichtenberg.
In fact, Wu Yize's overall performance is not particularly outstanding, and his performance is not too eye-catching, so it was a surprise to many fans that he won the Best Newcomer Award. However, this season, Wu Yize is indeed the best-performing newcomer, reaching the top 32 of the ranking competition three times. There are very few new faces, and their results are not as good as Wu Yize's, so this award is well deserved.
In addition to Wu Yize, Yan Bingtao, Pang Junxu, Xu Si and other young players have all won the Best Newcomer Award from the World Federation of Taiwan, but so far only Yan Bingtao has stood out and won the Masters championship. He is firmly ranked in the top 16 in the world and has strong strength. Pang Junxu played well last season, but his recent performance is average. The highlight moment was the European Masters reversal of the world champion Robertson .
The three Chinese players with the best results this season are Zhao Xintong, Fan Zhengyi, and Yan Bingtao. Zhao Xintong won the British Championship and German Masters championship, Fan Zhengyi narrowly defeated O'Sullivan to win the European Masters, and Yan Bingtao reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships. They all achieved new breakthroughs in their careers, but they are not newcomers. Zhao Xintong won the best athlete award in the fans' vote, and his support rate exceeded O'Sullivan.
According to the arrangements of the World Taiwan Federation, the new season will start at the end of June, with the first stop being the Champions League. The performance of Chinese players is still worth looking forward to. We have reason to believe that in the future, more young people will perform well and realize their dreams in the professional arena.
