World Championship 2022: Yan Bingtao playing catch-up against Mark Williams as Class of ’92 set pace
- China’s last hope in Sheffield trails three-time champion in a quarter-final field dominated by veterans
- Ronnie O’Sullivan builds lead against Stephen Maguire, while John Higgins is also in the last eight
Yan was a lone 20-something in the company of quarter-finalists with 15 world titles between them, of which three were held by his last-eight opponent Mark Williams. The Welshman duly schooled him 6-2 in their opening session.
Old enough at 47 to be 22-year-old Yan’s father, Williams joined the professional ranks in 1992 at the same time as Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, both 46 and still in the hunt in Sheffield along with Stuart Bingham, 45, and Stephen Maguire, 41.
Even the supposedly young and thrusting Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski, who respectively face Bingham and Higgins, are now 32 and 30.
O’Sullivan has often signalled his dismay about the lack of a next generation to usurp him. During this championship, Luca Brecel of Belgium, although only 27 himself, has weighed in, claiming emerging British players were too lazy to make it to the top.
