On the evening of October 7, the first day of the Xi'an Grand Prix wrapped up, with a shocking surprise—amateur player Zhang Hao eliminated the 15th seed, Wei Kelin, advancing to the main tournament with a 5-3 victory.
The first day of the qualifiers had many matches, with players competing in different time slots, making it a bit chaotic. Let’s take a look at how the players progressed to the next rounds.
There were 14 Chinese players competing on the day, with 4 advancing to the last 32, 3 to the last 64, and 10 eliminated. Among the three players who made it to the 64, Ding Junhui, Zhao Xintong, and Zhang Hao, they all won their first-round matches in the delayed qualifiers, securing spots in the main event (the 64).
Zhao Xintong played against wildcard player Wang Xinbo. Zhao’s performance was lackluster, but Wang, lacking experience and composure, couldn’t capitalize. Despite a 132-point break, Wang lost 2-5. Ding Junhui faced Sam Craigie and had a similarly average performance. However, Craigie performed worse, and Ding won 5-1 despite only managing a 94-point break.
Zhang Hao, an amateur, was the big surprise of the day. He was one of four wildcard players selected in China, with Wang Xinbo and Zhou Jinhao coming from the youth competition, and Zhang Hao and Zhang Xiao coming from an open selection. Normally, facing a top-16 player like Wei Kelin, just winning a couple of frames would be impressive, but Zhang managed to win the match! Wei Kelin’s performance was also poor, with just one 54-point break. Zhang Hao played steadily, and despite a slow pace, he emerged victorious 5-3 after a long, drawn-out match. The game, which started at 10 AM, had to be paused for a break, and when they resumed in the evening, Wei Kelin failed to find his form, ultimately losing 5-3. Zhang Hao will face Polish coach Mateusz in the next round. Mateusz, who just entered the professional ranks this year, is relatively weak, so Zhang may have a good chance of advancing further.
Among the players eliminated, Wang Xinbo was defeated by Zhao Xintong, while Zhang Xiao lost 0-5 to Gary Wilson, and Zhou Jinhao was beaten 2-5 by Mark Selby. Zhou had won his previous match in the morning, but since it was part of the qualification, he didn’t make it past the 128.
As for the top Chinese wildcard players, Zhang Hao is currently the furthest along. Four Chinese players have reached the last 32: Yuan Sijun, He Guoqiang, Lü Haotian, and Zhou Yuelong.
Yuan Sijun advanced automatically due to Jamie Jones’s withdrawal. He Guoqiang defeated his fellow Chinese player Xu Yichen 5-3. Lü Haotian, in an intense battle with Wang Yuchen, won 5-4. Zhou Yuelong played against Ryan Day and secured a solid 5-2 win, looking to go further in the competition.
The players eliminated from this group were Xu Yichen, Wang Yuchen, Huang Jiahui (lost 2-5 to Hill), and Jiang Jun (lost 3-5 to Thaksin).
Looking at the foreign players, those who advanced to the 64 include Gary Wilson, Karen Wilson, Trump, Robertson, and O'Sullivan.
The following players have made it to the 32: Mark Selby (due to a withdrawal), Karen Wilson (due to a withdrawal), David Lilli, Scutt, Slesser, Maguire, Jack Jones, Thaksin, Sankham, Hill, Poon, Bingham, or Selt. Their matches are still ongoing, with Bingham leading 4-3 at the moment.
The schedule for the rest of the tournament has been busy, with players in different groups competing in the 64-to-32 elimination rounds.
Matches are scheduled at various times:
- At 10 AM, four matches: Wales vs. Gilbert, Fan Zhenyi vs. Skahway, Jimmy Robertson vs. O'Connor, Murphy vs. Long Zehuang.
- At 2 PM, six matches: Song Shawa vs. Gary Wilson, Mateusz vs. Zhang Hao, Carter vs. Moody, Wu Yize vs. Xu Si, Trump vs. Stevens, Jordan Brown vs. Ding Junhui.
- At 7:30 PM, six more matches: O'Sullivan vs. Yao Pengcheng, Oliver Lines vs. Allen, Grace vs. Hawkins, Chada vs. Robertson, Milkins vs. Zhao Xintong, Selby vs. Mark Davis.
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