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World Snooker Championship
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World Championship 2022: China’s wait goes on after Yan Bingtao’s narrow loss

  • ‘I was so close to my first Crucible one-table match,’ he says, having led Mark Williams before slipping to 13-11 defeat
  • ‘Class of ’92’ in fine fettle as Williams is joined in semi-finals by John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan, along with Judd Trump

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Yan Bingtao of China came up just short at the World Championship as he lost 13-11 to Mark Williams. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Tom Bell
China’s wait for its first winner of snooker’s World Championship continues after Yan Bingtao was edged out by Mark Williams in a tense quarter-final.
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It was the closest a Chinese player had come to landing the sport’s greatest prize since Ding Junhui reached the semi-finals in 2017, and Yan’s performance in losing 13-11 hinted he may one day go a step or two further.

Adrift at 6-2 down after the first session, the 22-year-old responded by dominating the second by the same margin. He then led 10-8 and 11-10 to be in sight of the coveted one-table stage, when the Crucible arena transforms, doubling the audience and ratcheting up the drama.

Instead it was Williams, 47, who got there – the oldest player to do so since 52-year-old Ray Reardon lost to Steve Davis in 1985.

Mark Williams had got the better of Yan Bingtao at this year’s Cazoo Masters, and he did so again in Sheffield. Photo: World Snooker Tour
Mark Williams had got the better of Yan Bingtao at this year’s Cazoo Masters, and he did so again in Sheffield. Photo: World Snooker Tour

“I was nervous, because I was so close to my first Crucible one-table match,” Yan told the World Snooker Tour website. “At 11-10 I had a chance to make it 12-10, but I was thinking too much and lost the cue ball.

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