Zhao Xintong beats Mark Williams to win historic World Snooker Championship title
Zhao Xintong has become the first Chinese World Snooker Champion in history after beating Mark Williams 18-12 at the Crucible. The 28-year-old capped an imperious month of snooker in Sheffield.
Owing to his suspension as part of snooker's match-fixing scandal, Xintong was forced to come through qualifying as an amateur to seal his place at the Crucible. He won four matches at the English Institute of Sport before producing consistently excellent snooker at the sport's Mecca to seal a maiden world crown.
He saw off 2024 finalist Jak Jones before beating countryman Lei Peifan. Chris Wakelin was brushed aside in the last eight, but Xintong came of age in the semi-finals as he battered idol Ronnie O'Sullivan into submission with a session to spare.
Xintong raced into a 7-1 lead after the opening session of the final, and a 6-2 split in this afternoon's session meant he needed just one frame this evening to win the title, becoming only the third qualifier in history to do so.
During the break in between sessions, Williams admitted he was struggling to keep up with his opponent. He posted on social media: 'That was tough – I've not got enough cue power to combat tough conditions like Zhao,' Williams posted on social media during the break. 'His cue power is superb. Prob the best potter I've ever seen."
But that clearly wasn't an acceptance of defeat as the veteran launched a stirring comeback to win all four frames before the first interval, making the score 17-12. However, ideas of an historic fightback were ended in the 30th frame as Xintong put together a stunning break of 87 that secured his place in Crucible history.
He burst on to the scene in 2021 when he beat Luca Brecel in the UK Championship final - his first Triple Crown title. Xintong was tipped from that moment on to become the first Chinese world champion with mentor Ding Junhui having carried the hopes of a nation for a generation.
But in January 2023, he was implicated in a match-fixing scandal and was banned from competition until September 2024. Though he was exonerated of fixing matches himself, he was found guilty of assisting others and placing bets on games.
Xintong won four straight events and 32 successive matches on the amateur Q Tour in a bid to regain his professional status and became the first player to hit a maximum break on the tour.
He won four qualifying matches to return to the UK Championship, but lost 6-5 to Shaun Murphy at the main stage of the competition. His performances guaranteed he would return to the professional ranks for the 2025-26 season and secured his place at qualifying for this year's World Championship.
Xintong will start next season ranked as the World No.11 and needs just the Masters title to complete snooker's Triple Crown. And O'Sullivan is backing the new world champion to become a 'megastar' in the sport.
"I think it would be amazing. I think if he did win he would be a megastar," the Rocket said after losing the semi final. "He's still very big in China as it is. But if he becomes world champion it would just be amazing for snooker and for his life as well.
"He can definitely get over the line. I think he'll have more of a test (in the final). That will be a proper test for him. He played great. You have to give credit where it's due. We've got a really nice relationship. I'm always trying to help him if I can."
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