The 2022 English Open Qualifiers Conclude – The 2022 Champion of Champions Begins …

These are the results of the past week-end matches at the 2022 English Open Qualifiers (source: snooker.org)

On Saturday …

There was another disappointing result for On Yee. Mark Davis beating Xiao Guodong and Zhang Anda beating Stephen Maguire were minor surprises, although the score in the Zhang v Maguire match is unexpected. Mark Davis always was a good player and Zhang … is a mystery. The guy has never been in the top 64, but has qualified for the Crucible three times, the first one came in 2010. If anyone has a good explanation, they are welcome to comment. Fan Zhengyi played well in beating And Hicks. The Woollaston v Clarke match was a good one, and a close one. It was a harsh draw for both of them.

Andres Petrov scored his first win as a pro, beating rookie Victor Sarkis in a decider. It wasn’t a bad match. Both players have a lot to learn obviously but there was good stuff in there.

And then, Dechawat Poomjaeng celebrated his return to the professional ranks with a hard-fought win over Alexander Ursenbacher. Alex wasn’t happy. “Poomy” disappointed … he failed to applaud himself out there!

Yesterday …

Dylan Emery was really impressive in beating the experienced Li Hang: he scored three high breaks (107, 100, 89). He’s by far the best UK youngster I have seen in years. Xu Si beating Zhou Yuelong was a minor surprise but not a good sign for Zhou. It won’t do his confidence any good. Pang Junxu played a solid match to get the better of Barry Pinches. Gary Wilson dominated Lyu Haotian; Lyu had a bit of an off-day and didn’t have the best of luck either. As much as I like Jimmy … I didn’t watch that one.

Today …

We are off to Bolton for the 2023 Champion of Champions

Some images taken at the venue and in the arena shared by Eugene James (fitter) during the rig.

One thought on “The 2022 English Open Qualifiers Conclude – The 2022 Champion of Champions Begins …”

Zhang Anda is actually a very skilful player, but has obvious limitations which means he’s uncompetitive in certain conditions. I once saw him play in the UK Championship (in the Sports Hall) where after only a few shots looked dejected, realising the table massively favoured his opponent, Kurt Maflin, with his extra cue-power. However, Zhang has an extremely good record in China, having won many of the Pro-Am tournaments. Chinese fans would probably rate him on the same level as Xiao Guodong or Li Hang. On my own ranking list, he is currently 54. I do expect the number of Chinese players to go down, but Zhang Anda will probably just about make it into the top-64 and survive

In fact, during 2020 Zhang seriously considered abandoning the professional game. His son was born at the height of the pandemic, at a time when hospitals were overrun… He took a year away and then came back, after winning a couple of tournaments in Beijing and Xi’an. When in China he is heavily involved in coaching and commentary. On his Rigour live-stream, he can be heard singing karaoke songs between frames! Perhaps being essentially stranded in UK now, separated from family and other distractions, has forced him to concentrate on his playing career.

Lewis says:

October 31, 2022 at 4:09 pm

Zhang Anda is actually a very skilful player, but has obvious limitations which means he’s uncompetitive in certain conditions. I once saw him play in the UK Championship (in the Sports Hall) where after only a few shots looked dejected, realising the table massively favoured his opponent, Kurt Maflin, with his extra cue-power. However, Zhang has an extremely good record in China, having won many of the Pro-Am tournaments. Chinese fans would probably rate him on the same level as Xiao Guodong or Li Hang. On my own ranking list, he is currently 54. I do expect the number of Chinese players to go down, but Zhang Anda will probably just about make it into the top-64 and survive

In fact, during 2020 Zhang seriously considered abandoning the professional game. His son was born at the height of the pandemic, at a time when hospitals were overrun… He took a year away and then came back, after winning a couple of tournaments in Beijing and Xi’an. When in China he is heavily involved in coaching and commentary. On his Rigour live-stream, he can be heard singing karaoke songs between frames! Perhaps being essentially stranded in UK now, separated from family and other distractions, has forced him to concentrate on his playing career.