Chinese billiards will continue to be held in 2023, with the resumption of the World Championships and the events with more than 200,000 championships blooming everywhere, which is very lively. There have been a lot of new blood in men's Chinese billiards this year, but in the most important competitions, the championship still belongs to a few big names.
Let's take a look at the most concerned "Wang Bang" Zheng Yubo and Chu Bingjie. Zheng Yubo was unstoppable in the first half of the year, slashing six championships, but after May, the "quasi-god" gradually showed fatigue, only stumbling to win one championship in the International Grand Prix, and at the World Championships at the end of the year, Zheng Yubo unexpectedly lost to his old opponent Yang Fan, who had not broken out for a long time, and missed the three consecutive championships early. Chu Bingjie's 2023 is quite frustrating, the former "champion harvester" once fell into a championship drought for several months, just after breaking the championship drought, came to the long-awaited World Championships, Chu Bingjie lost in the strong dialogue with Zhao Ruliang, and still failed to win his first World Championships.
Compared with Zheng Yubo's high and low opening this year, Zhao Ruliang is opening low and going high. In the first half of this year, Zhao Ruliang's results were not good, his form caused many fans to worry, the turning point was the runner-up of the International Open, although Zheng Xiaohuai staged a shocking reversal, but Zhao Ruliang did not collapse because of this loss, but was aroused more strong fighting spirit. Two months later, when he returned to Yushan to compete in the World Championships, Zhao Ruliang was unstoppable, even if he was in the upper half of death, he was still at ease, and it was even more reasonable to take the young Shen Shenyi in the final. No matter how bad the results were before, winning the long-awaited World Champion title has been a great success for Zhao Ruliang in 2023.
Another popular player, Zhang Kunpeng, has also been a bright spot this year, although he missed out on the semi-finals at the World Championships with a stunning handpick, but in other tournaments, Zhang Kunpeng has won multiple titles, which will naturally help him boost his confidence and continue to challenge for the world championship next year.
Several "post-80s" and "post-90s" celebrities have not performed satisfactorily this year. Dai Yong's performance declined significantly compared with last year, falling out of the top 16 of the China Taiwan Association, and he was also defeated by Zhao Ruliang in the top 32 at the World Championships. Liu Haitao and Li Hewen also fell into a dull situation after a brief outburst in the middle of the year, and the World Championships were out early. Yu Haitao is in stable form, a frequent visitor to the top 16 and top eight, but lacks bright spots. The younger Shi Hanqing also had his ups and downs in the second half of the year, and the World Championships also underperformed.
In stark contrast to the "post-00s" ferocious snatching of power, in addition to the new crown of Zhao Ruliang, the World Championships runner-up Shen Shenyi, "mechanical thunder" Lei Yiwei, Zhang Taiyi, Liang Shiyu are all very scene-stealing, of course, we can't fail to mention the international open champion Zheng Xiaohuai, this year can be said to be the year when he completely jumped into the top ranks of Chinese billiards, the only regret is that the World Championships are out prematurely.
Overall, the pattern of men's Chinese billiards in 2023 is still a scuffle, the dominance of "Wang Bang" is no longer there, Zhao Ruliang has completed a breakthrough, and a large number of young players have entered a mature period. In 2024, the battle of men's Chinese billiards will also be the topic that fans are most concerned about.