Xiao eliminated O’Sullivan from the Champion of Champions…
China’s Xiao Guodong defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round of the 2024 Champion of Champions event in Bolton. In the quarterfinals, Xiao overcame deficits of 4-1 and 5-4 to defeat Mark Selby 6-5. After an incredible comeback from Xiao, 48-year-old O’Sullivan, a four-time Champion of Champions winner, lost 4-3 in the first round after taking a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven-frames match. Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan was on track to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal at the Toughsheet Community Stadium with breaks of 95 and 125 in frames two and three, respectively. But Xiao won the last frame 64-35 after making breaks of 130, 88, and 85. O’Sullivan has lost for the second time in a row. He was eliminated last week from the.
As he had done earlier in the day, Xiao rallied from a three-frame deficit to tie the match at 4-4. Two frames later, he repeated the feat to make it 5-5. Selby built a 39-0 lead in a dramatic final frame that included a rerack, but Xiao rallied to win 78-51, including a break of 58. In the semifinals, Xiao will play Mark Allen, the top seed. Neil Robertson will face sixth-seeded Mark Williams in the other last-four encounter.
In order to attract young people, she would prefer to see names and numbers on the back of shirts as well as a more straightforward scoring system. Furthermore, the 39-time Grand Slam champion believes a Middle Eastern female world number one “could influence in a huge way” despite her conflicting feelings about the WTA’s entry into Saudi Arabia. She also had harsh words for players who gripe about the length of the season before agreeing to lucrative showcase events in a comprehensive interview with BBC Sport in Malaga to kick off the Billie Jean King Cup, the women’s team championship that bears her name. Regarding Emma Raducanu, whom she gave the 2021 US Open trophy to, she said that she.
King was a co-founder of World Team Tennis in 1974, but the major tours have not incorporated many of the innovations from that yearly summer professional mixed league, which hasn’t been since 2021. “I would like to see names and numbers on the back of the shirt in tennis,” she stated. “I want fans to have an easy day. It should be 1-2-3-4 instead of 15-love, 30-love, in my opinion.
The only top-10 singles players in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals this week are Iga Swiatek of Poland and Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Barbora Krejcikova, Emma Navarro, Jessica Pegula, and Coco Gauff are not present. Although injuries play a role, the season’s duration—which started with the United Cup on December 29 of last year—is the main cause. King feels that the year is too long as well, and she would end the regular WTA Tour season at the US Open in September before ending it with a brief team competition season.
The WTA Tour and the players should now determine whether this should be a long-term agreement, according to King, after the first tournament edition is over. It’s up to them to make a decision. I am aware that they [the Saudi Federation] carried out numerous programs. Let us observe whether they remain and what transpires. “It’s a pretty hard one. I also want to see the best for the girls that live there. I think a female player from the Middle East might have a great impact, so I would love to see her become the best in the world.
King believes that one of Great Britain’s top two singles players, Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter, needs more time and that the other deserves more recognition. “I’ve been watching her for about five years now and every year she has got a little bit better – I don’t think people appreciate her enough. She’s got quicker, she’s got more consistent.” Raducanu is finishing her first season after taking eight months off from touring to recuperate from hand and ankle surgeries. This year, she made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon and is ranked 58th in the world rankings despite a recent.
King remarked, “If she can stay healthy long enough, then we’ll see how good she is.” “But if you keep getting hurt, you never get that momentum going.” “I always want to give a player at least a year and a half to recover if you’ve been hurt – really hurt. It takes a lot to come back from injury and you have got to be very patient.
