On November 18, 2022, Snooker British Championship entered the 7th day of the match, and the quarter-finals started in full swing. The focus game is undoubtedly Ding Junhui against O'Sullivan . This is the 30th direct conversation between the two. The winner will advance to the semi-finals and will also become a favorite to compete for the championship. However, the schedule caused controversy, Ding Junhui had less than 24 hours of rest, while O'Sullivan got plenty of rest.
In the last game of the second round of the main competition, the world champion Stewart Bingham 3-6 lost to qualifying contestant Joe Perry , and missed the quarterfinals. The two veterans contributed a wonderful game. In the first half, Joe Perry scored 93 points in a single shot, Stewart Bingham scored 78 points and 103 points in a single shot. He tied the score at 2 when he was two times behind. But the situation suddenly changed in the second half. Joe Perry scored 82 points, 82 points and 75 points in a row. He won three games in a row and directly won the match point 5-2.
Stuart Bingham scored 102 points in the eighth game to save a match point, but Joe Perry quickly got started in the ninth game, locked in the victory with 64 points in a single shot, eliminated Stewart Bingham 6-3, and advanced to the quarterfinals in a flash. Joe Perry won the last quarter-finals of of this English Championship and is also the fourth qualifier to reach the quarter-finals. That’s right, there are four qualifiers in the quarterfinals.
This year's British Championship introduced the qualifying round to fully protect the seed players. Surprisingly, 12 seed players were eliminated in the first two rounds, and only 4 seed players finally reached the quarterfinals, namely O'Sullivan, Mark Allen , Sean Murphy , Lisovsky . O'Sullivan remained stable from beginning to end, Mark Allen and Sean Murphy were in a hot state after losing weight, and Lisovsky was in excellent form on the spot.
In addition, the qualifiers won four quarter-finals seats, belonging to Ding Junhui, Joe Perry, Tom Ford , and Sam Craigie. In the next quarter-finals, Joe Perry and Tom Ford had a direct conversation, and there must be a qualifier who reached the semi-finals. The focus of the quarter-finals is undoubtedly Ding Junhui vs. O'Sullivan. The two have a direct conversation for the 30th time. As a favorite to win the championship, O'Sullivan is of course more optimistic, but Ding Junhui's condition has recovered and there is hope to create an upset. From the perspective of striving for the championship, the game against O'Sullivan is Ding Junhui's life-and-death battle. Once he passes the level, his hope of winning the championship will greatly increase.
However, the schedule caused controversy. The matches held at 9:00 p.m. on November 18 were Joe Perry VS Tom Ford, Ding Junhui VS O'Sullivan, and the matches held at 3:00 a.m. on November 19 were Sam Creggie VS Mark Allen, Lisovsky VS Sean Murphy. Ding Junhui played back to back, with less than 24 hours of rest time, and O'Sullivan's rest time was nearly two days. This arrangement was obviously beneficial to O'Sullivan. In addition, Sam Craigie and Mark Allen both finished the second round early, but their quarter-finals were scheduled to be played in the evening, which is puzzling.
No matter what, I hope Ding Junhui will unload his burden, give full play to his technical level, and strive to defeat O'Sullivan. This time it is indeed a good opportunity to break the championship drought. CCTV broadcasts the quarter-finals throughout the entire live broadcast, wishing Ding Junhui good luck!
