**Keying Championships: Rockets ignite the Chinese dragon, and Xiao Ding missed the second championship.
The Croatian-British Championship is one of the oldest tournaments in Croatia's history and the first of the three ranking tournaments, known as the "Wimbledon of Croatia". The tournament has been held in the UK since 1977 and attracts the world's best gram players to compete for honours and prize money.
This year's British Championship is even more eye-catching, because it is not only the first ranking match of the new season, but also the reproduction of one of the most classic duels in the history of the first gram: O'Sullivan, the head of the five tigers in the 80s, and Ding Junhui, one of the three heroes in the 75s, entered the final hand in hand and launched a wonderful competition. This is the thirty-second time the two have metIt was also the third time they had met in a British Championship final.
The friendship and competition between the two has become a landscape in the world. O'Sullivan is one of the greatest players in the history of the country, with a brilliant record of seven world championships and thirty-seven ranking tournament titles, and is known as "The Rocket".Known for its excellent technology and speed.
Ding Junhui is the leader of China's best gram and the representative of Asia's best gram, has won the British Championship twice, and is the only player who has defeated O'Sullivan in the British Championships. The last time the two met in the final of the British Championship was back in 2017, when O'Sullivan defeated Ding Junhui 10-3 to win his sixth British Championship title.
Last year, Ding Junhui broke into the final of the British Championship again, but finally lost to Mark Allen and missed the third crown. In this year's British Championships, Ding Junhui's form has picked up, and he has eliminated Trump and Allen, who have performed well in the new season, and also sent away his old rival Mark Williams, not only returning to the top 16 in the world, but also successfully qualifying for the MastersHaving achieved their goal.
Facing his friend and idol O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui has no pressure, he just wants to do his best to bring a wonderful game to the audience. The game adopted a best-of-17 formatIt is divided into two halves.
In the first half, O'Sullivan took the initiative at the beginning, taking advantage of Ding Junhui's mistakes to win the first three games in a row, establishing a 3-0 lead with 96-63 and 91-38 respectively. In the fourth game, Ding Junhui finally found his senses, scored 89 points with a single stroke, won his first game 99-31, and stopped O'Sullivan's offensive.
After the break, O'Sullivan won the fifth game 60-49 to extend the score to 4-1. Since then, O'Sullivan's state has fluctuated, and his accuracy has decreased, Ding Junhui seized the opportunity and won the sixth, seventh and eighth games in a row, equalizing the total score with 71-0 and 76-0 respectively, of which the seventh game also broke 100 in a single stroke and scored 114 pointsShowed their strength.
At the end of the first half, the two were tied 4-4. At the beginning of the second half, Ding Junhui made a mistake in his upper hand, and O'Sullivan did not give him any chance, and easily scored 84 points with a single strokeIt took the lead again with an 89-0 victory.
In the tenth game, O'Sullivan was lucky, he was lucky to faint, but he missed in the far basketball, and the middle bag did not score, Ding Junhui seized this opportunity and scored 56 points with a single stroke, tying the score with 56-2. In the eleventh game, O'Sullivan did not defend patiently, but showed his firepower on the offensive end, but at 40 points, he lost a simple bottom bag, which made him very annoyed.
Ding Junhui did not seize this opportunity, but gave O'Sullivan a red ball, O'Sullivan did not waste this opportunity, scored 87 points with a single stroke, completed the clearance, and won the game 127-6. In the twelfth game, O'Sullivan made a mistake when solving the ball, Ding Junhui had two opportunities to get started, but he didn't get a good position, but made a mistake when fighting the ball on the long platform, and the bottom bag also leaked, O'Sullivan scored 79 points with a single shot and won the game again 80-6The score was stretched to 7-5.
In the thirteenth game, O'Sullivan's state fluctuated a little, and there were some flaws in the defense, Ding Junhui adjusted his mentality, scored the red ball in the middle pocket, and caught up with the game again 70-4. In the fourteenth game, Ding Junhui was more relaxed, the long platform spelled into the red ball, and then broke the game all the way, scoring 104 points with a single stroke, ending the game with 104 to 4The aggregate score was also tied at 7-7.
The game entered the best-of-five stage in the final five games, and the psychological quality and technical level of the two were greatly tested. In the fifteenth game, O'Sullivan was very strong, and finally completed his first 100 breaks, scored 100 points with a single stroke, and sealed Ding Junhui 100-0, taking the lead in reaching the match point.
In the sixteenth game, Ding Junhui's defense in the middle bag was not strict enough, so that O'Sullivan had a chance to attack, but O'Sullivan did not grasp it, the middle bag lost the red ball, so that Ding Junhui had a chance to counterattack, but Ding Junhui did not seize it, and the middle bag lost the red ball, so that O'Sullivan started again, O'Sullivan did not give Ding Junhui any chance, scored 87 points with a single shot, and won the game again with 87 to 8, expanding the score to 9 to 7, only one step away from the championship. In the seventeenth game, Ding Junhui made a mistake when solving the ball, which gave O'Sullivan a good opportunity, O'Sullivan did not waste this opportunity, scored 129 points with a single stroke, won the game 134-6, and also won the whole game, defeated Ding Junhui 10-7, and won his eighth British Championship championshipA new record was set in the history of the gram.
It was a high-level match, and both men showed their style and also brought a visual feast to the audience. O'Sullivan once again proved that he is a legend in the world, his technique and psychology are impeccable, and his firepower and speed are amazingHis number of victories and record are impressive.
Ding Junhui has not lived up to his efforts, his state and confidence have been greatly improved, his playing style and mentality are very stable, and his achievements and honors are very proud. The friendship and competition between the two have also made the best Kejie more exciting, and their mutual respect and praise are also touching.
Their showdown is not only a feast of grams, but also a cultural exchange, and their stories are not only a history of grams, but also a life experience.