2016 Snooker UK Open Final

Liang Wenbo has never heard of it? Am I that ignorant? Still need to back Liang Wenbo

There will be a match at 9 p.m. tonight and a final at 2 a.m., which means we’ll know who the champion is as soon as we get up tomorrow morning

According to Sina Sports, on the evening of October 16th, Beijing time, the final of the Snooker England Open was played, with Liang Wenbo facing Trump. After falling behind by two games, Liang Wenbo remained unfazed and won three consecutive games. Although he failed to seize the opportunity in game eight, he still led Trump 5-3 at the end of the first half. Today, Liang Wenbo was extremely accurate with long shots, managing to score on even the more difficult ones. Commentator Pang Weiguo also admitted that Liang Wenbo’s accuracy is now no worse than it was during his peak years five or six years ago (when he was in the top 16 of the world rankings); in fact, it may even be better. On the other hand, Trump was in average form, with few opportunities to get involved on the court when Liang Wenbo was at full strength. Before the match, Trump had a clear advantage in terms of odds to win the title, but during the game, Liang Wenbo was clearly the one in the stronger position. Pang Weiguo said that Liang Wenbo and Trump used to practice together frequently, and in fact Liang Wenbo wasn’t afraid of him at all. And looking at their head-to-head record, this might also prove it – Liang Wenbo has 4 wins and 3 losses, thus holding a slight advantage

Apart from being slightly at a disadvantage in terms of momentum on the field, luck was not on Trump’s side either. In the seventh frame, when he was hitting a very simple black ball at the bottom of the rack, the white ball even jumped, and the hit on the black ball was also off by a lot; this was probably due to dust or static electricity. Trump appeared very frustrated; he glanced at the billiard table once more before slowly returning to his seat. Clearly, in the first half of the final, the pace was not in Trump’s favor; Pang Weiguo also said that Trump had yet to return to his usual form up to that point. However, Liang Wenbo’s numerous mistakes do pose some risks. Take the seventh frame as an example: Liang Wenbo was leading 40-1 at the time, but he made a mistake while hitting a simple red ball from the bottom pocket, thereby giving away his advantageous position. After that mistake with the ball, Liang Wenbo’s emotions fluctuated slightly; his expression as he sat on the sidelines showed a hint of tension. He bit his lip, clearly dissatisfied with the mistake he had made just now. Trump was clearly not in good form either, losing three matches in a row after failing to win the ‘black ball’ match. Although Xiao Te brought back one inning in the eighth inning. But judging from the situation in the first half, it was clear that Trump was completely overwhelmed; he failed to regain his form at all. Although both players want to win – Xiao Te aiming for back-to-back championships while Liang Wenbo seeking his first title in a major tournament – it is clear from the course of the match that Liang Wenbo had better control and performed more consistently. At least, judging from the first half of the final, Liang Wenbo has a good chance of winning his first title in a major ranking event.