Yesterday was not a good day for Chinese professional Go. Here is an article that shows the reaction:

Kong Jie lost and Gu Li lost while Chang Hao and Chen Yaoye were eliminated. During yesterday's matches of the double elimination round, the Chinese delegation suffered an unusually thorough defeat. Only Wang Lei won, defeating Park Yeonghun to enter the round of 16. Six Korean players advanced to the round of 16. The focal point of the loser bracket was the game between Lee Changho and Chang Hao, where Chang Hao suffered elimination.

Faced with these results, Hua Xueming shook her head and stated, "This was truly a dark day!"

Widespread defeat

Actually, China had poor momentum coming out of the first round, where Chinese players fared only 4-4 against players of other countries. No one thought that the next day's results would be even more disappointing.

Of the nine South Korean players won their first round games, five players were matched against Chinese opponents. The most striking matchup was between the two #1 players, Kong Jie and Lee Sedol. Kong Jie, playing white, failed to kill the black dragon and resigned. Gu Li played Heo Yeongho 7p and unexpectedly resigned, entering the losers bracket. Tan Xiao, who defeated Lee Changho in the prior round, was defeated by Korean Han Sanghoon 5p. Zhou Ruiyang lost to Park Junghwan. Only Wang Lei defeated Park Yeonghun, saving the national team some face. After the game, Wang Lei flatly said, "When I saw their games, none of them looked good." Japanese player Yamashita Keigo handed young star Wang Tao a loss, salvaging honor for Japan in a similar way.

Chinese players eliminated include Qiu Jun and Chen Yaoye, who were already in the losers bracket. Chen Yaoye lost to the elder Korean, Yoo Changhyuk. Tuo Jiaxi and Peng Quan recorded wins against international competition in the loser bracket, earning a second chance for seats in the round of 16.

Chang Hao eliminated

In the losers bracket, the biggest matchup was between Chang Hao and Lee Changho. Both players stood at the brink of elimination, making this game extremely pivotal. In the end, Chang Hao held a superior position, but he made a grave mistake, and the black dragon abruptly died. Chang Hao had no choice but to bid farewell to this year's Samsung Cup.

When the players selected colors, Chang Hao drew black. In the opening, Chang Hao started a ko fight on the lower side, gaining a slight advantage. Continuing, Chang Hao turned the fight to the upper side, forcing Lee Changho to give up seven stones on the left side and claiming the superior position. At this time, Lee Changho was already in byo-yomi. Surrounding the center was his only hope, but Black was thick everywhere. Normally this would not be a difficult situation for Chang Hao. In the analysis room, everyone thought that Chang Hao would soon claim the game. But then the inconceivable happened: Chang Hao lost focus on the status of his large dragon. A simple kosumi would have secured a an easy connection, but instead Chang Hao chose to live, allowing Lee Changho to cut. The sad thing is that even after the cut, Black had a chance to live. However, Chang Hao was impatient with Lee Changho grinding away at his lead and took the chance to recover some territory. This gave Lee Changho the chance to kill. In the analysis room, the Chinese media shouted: "Lee Changho is so good at grinding that ... [This is awkward to translate... maybe, "he could whittle a diamond?"]

"Chang Hao played too quickly, obviously he felt tension," said referee Zhang Dehui, who paid close attention to the game. "He could not maintain his good position, and he ended up losing. Chang Hao's expression was blank, and he must have been suffering."
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After the match, Chang Hao said, "Actually, there were many ways for the center dragon to live, but I was thinking about a ko with that group, so I was somewhat negligent." Chang Hao did not attribute any particular significance to China's poor performance this round. He noted that many more games would follow, and that it was too early to talk about who was stronger.

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I am Tartuffe from GoDiscussions.com

So let's see what happens today.

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长考出臭棋.

Thanks for translating! It's much appreciated!