The quarterfinals of the 29th LG Cup World Go Championship will start on September 30, with the semifinals on October 2 and the trilogy finals on January 20-23, 2025. The champion will receive a prize of 300 million won (equivalent to about 1.59 million yuan), and the runner-up will receive 100 million won.
The matchups in the quarterfinals are as follows: Ke Jie 9 dan VS Han Sang-chao 6 duan, Ding Hao 9 dan vs Lee Ji Hyun 9 duan, Park Tinghuan 9 dan VS Bian Sang-il 9 duan, Shin Minjun 9 dan VS Won Shengqin 9 duan.
Ke Jie in the game
Now the question is, among these eight masters, who is the most likely to win the cup? Who's at the bottom of the odds?
According to the author's analysis, Ding Hao has a better chance of winning the LG Cup for the second time, ranking first among the eight players.
Ding Hao's natural enemy, Shin Zhenzhen, has been eliminated, which is a feat of Han Sang-chao in the round of 16. In last year's LG Cup and Samsung Cup, Ding Hao "picked up" and reached the top when Shin Zhenzhen was out. Looking forward to such a good show, it will be staged for the third time on Ding Hao.
Korea's second oldest Park Tinghuan is second only to Ding Hao in the probability of winning the title, and the 31-year-old is not old, winning all nine matches in the Chinese Weijia League this year, but his record in the World Series is not very good.
Park Tinghuan of the 9th Ying's Cup was repelled by Xu Jiayang and missed the semifinals. In the second Rotten Ke Cup, he lost to Gu Zihao and stopped in the quarterfinals.
Since the Samsung Cup final victory over Shin Jin-jin in November 2021 to be crowned five-time champion, Park Ting-hwan has not been able to step on the final stage of the World Series for nearly three years, and I don't know if he can realize his dream in this LG Cup.
Ding Hao nine paragraphs
The third most likely person to win the LG Cup crown is Ke Jie, but this is controversial. Ke Jie once won the 10th Ying's Cup with Bian Xiangyi, Shen Minjun and Wang Xinghao, and if he can maintain such a level, the Nine Crowns are not an extravagant hope. Unfortunately, it was difficult for him to stay high for a long time, and "The Wave" became his signature signature.
After being defeated by Shin Jinzhen in the final of the 28th LG Cup this year, Bian Sang-il seems to have been a bit sluggish, losing consecutive domestic and foreign competitions, and the Chinese Weijia League suffered five consecutive defeats, but I still ranked him in fourth place.
Shin Minjun, who is fifth, has been distancing himself from the semi-finals of the World Series since defeating Ke Jie in the 25th LG Cup final in 2021 to win the Gold Cup, and he may be able to make a breakthrough in this tournament.
Li Zhixian can probably be ranked sixth, he has no resume in the semifinals of the World Series, and this time he met Ding Hao in the quarterfinals, which is a bad signing.
The 39-year-old Yuan Shengqin, a veteran world champion, is ranked seventh, and his current overall level is not the same as his peak, and he can't get rid of the role of accompanying the prince to study in this LG Cup.
Shin Zhenzhen was defeated
Accompanying the last seat was Han Sang-chao, although he pulled Shin Zhenzhen off his horse. The reason is that apart from this competition, he has been lackluster in other events and has achieved nothing. In the final analysis, he belongs to the occasional appearance, and it is difficult to reach a higher realm.
In other words, in my opinion, the probability of winning this LG Cup from high to low is: Ding Hao, Park Tinghuan, Ke Jie, Bian Xiangyi, Shin Minjun, Li Zhixian, Won Shengqin, Han Xiangchao.
Chess fans, do you agree with this order?