Snooker World Championship Qualifiers: World Champion Suffers Upset, Two Chinese Players Advance, Gao Yang Concedes Nine Straight Frames

On April 15 Beijing time, the fourth round of the Snooker World Championship qualifiers heated up, with eight matches concluding overnight, adding eight players to the 32-strong lineup; these eight also secured tickets to the Crucible. Among the four Chinese participants, two wins and two losses were recorded: Zhou Yuelong and Pang Junxu advanced to the main draw, while Gao Yang and Jiang Jun were eliminated. Additionally, world champion Bingham was also knocked out!

Zhou Yuelong faced Holt and immediately showcased exceptional accuracy, winning four consecutive frames for a dream 4-0 start. Holt then rapidly chased back three frames to narrow it to 3-4. Subsequently, the match became one-sided: Zhou Yuelong, combining attack and defense, unleashed a 6-1 scoring surge, crushing Holt 10-4 to secure his main draw spot first!

Pang Junxu confronted Page. In this match, Pang Junxu struck first, securing a favorable 3-1 start. Page quickly responded with a 3-0 mini-run, overturning the score to 4-3 and extending it to 6-4. The following phase saw Pang Junxu deliver a 5-1 major surge, reaching 9-7 to claim match point. Page scraped back with multiple visits, catching up to 8-9. Pang Junxu showed no hesitation, sealing the match with a decisive 63-point single-frame win, thus defeating Page 10-8 to enter the main draw!

Gao Yang faced Iran's formidable Vafaei, a tough opponent with extremely high potential. Gao Yang aggressively fought for the opening, once achieving a perfect 4-1 lead. However, he suddenly collapsed, conceding nine consecutive frames to Vafaei, suffering a major reversal with a 4-10 defeat!

Jiang Jun and Moody staged a youth storm. Jiang Jun fired first, taking a 3-1 lead. Moody then leveraged his accuracy to sweep four straight frames, reversing the score to 5-3. Jiang Jun countered with a 3-0 run to regain the lead at 6-5. Moody's accuracy was blazing, consecutively producing one century break and two 70-plus breaks, winning three frames in reply to lead 8-6. Jiang Jun fought hard, pulling off a 3-1 stretch to drag the match into a decider. In the deciding frame, Moody delivered a century break to directly clinch the match, narrowly defeating Jiang Jun 10-9 to advance to the main draw!

World champion Bingham caused a major upset against Stevens. He started passively, falling 0-3 behind. He then produced a 5-2 run to level at 5-5. Stevens again delivered a 4-0 mini-run to reach 9-5 and seize match point. Cornered, Bingham chased two frames to 7-9, but ultimately fell short, losing 7-10 and failing to secure a World Championship main draw ticket—a great pity!

Text/Sports Novel