Zhao Xintong spent 2024 World Snooker Championship pushing fluffy Pomeranian around in a PRAM during ban
ZHAO XINTONG is on the brink of making snooker history at the World Snooker Championship.
However, go back 12 months and instead of a snooker table, the Chinese cueist was walking his dog around in a pram.
4
4
The 28-year-old ended his afternoon session against Mark Williams needing just one frame to be crowned world champion after racing into a 17-8 lead.
But as he looks to become the first ever champion from Asia, Zhao's circumstances could not have been more different.
Zhao was in the middle of a 20-month ban due to his involvement in a snooker corruption probe - although he did not directly fix a match.
The suspension meant Xintong was stripped of his place on the professional circuit and relegated to amateur status.
He regained his place through the Q Tour and came through FOUR matches in qualifying for the Crucible.
But one year ago, Zhao was busy posting photos of his Pomeranian on Instagram.
His first photo with the pet appears to have come from October 2023 when Zhao shared a snap of himself sitting next to it, simply captioned with a dog emoji.
In posts since then, he has been seen on walks with the dog in Shanghai, China, as it sported some cute yellow boots.
And last Spring as Kyren Wilson was crowned world champion at the Crucible, Zhao was sharing snaps of his fluffy dog as he took it around in a pram, including another photo of it winking at the camera.
Dog-lover Zhao has also shared photos of his pet while he jets around the globe, describing it as "super cute", including images of him enjoying a sunset by a lake in his homeland.
After returning to the snooker tour as an amateur, Zhao was seen cuddling his dog in a post in March.
Later on he shared photos of the pair going for a walk around London and relaxing before the start of the World's.
Zhao beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 17-7 in the semi-final to reach the final but back in May 2022 was seen enjoying dinner with the seven-time world champion as the Rocket cuddled his own dog.
The 49-year-old had said that year that his new dog had "restored my faith in life", so Zhao's decision to get a dog may have been partly inspired by O'Sullivan's glowing review.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
32 minutes ago
- Metro
Huge 4ft Labubu doll sells at auction for £100,000
The popularity of Labubu dolls has reached new heights as a human-sized doll sold for more than £110,000. The dolls were created 10 years ago by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, but they've recently exploded in popularity. That's thanks in part to celebrities like Rihanna, Dua Lipa, K-pop star Lisa and even David Beckham posing for pictures and endorsing the toys. An auction at Yongle International Auction in Beijing this week was dedicated solely to Labubu, with 48 items put on sale. One of the lots was a 4ft 4in (131cm) Labubu doll, which sold for a record 1.08million yuan (£110,435), the auction house said. In total the auction house raised about 3.37million yuan (£345,000) from the weekly sale. Usually the dolls, sold by Chinese company Pop Mart, cost around 50yuan. But global demand for the toys has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with crowds forming outside shops and even physically fighting over the items. Pop Mart even had to pause Labubu sales in its 16 UK stores 'to prevent any potential safety issues' due to the overwhelming demand. More Trending This explosion in popularity has driven major success for Pop Mart, which made 13million yuan in 2024, more than double its revenue for the previous year. The brand opened shops in five new countries including Italy and Spain. Part of Labubu's success comes from selling the toys in 'blind boxes' – where shoppers only discover the design of the doll after buying the box and opening the packaging. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: We travelled 14,000km on Race Across the World — this is the one place everyone should visit MORE: Killer Asian needle ants are invading the US MORE: The dystopian megacity bigger than Scotland where 2,600,000 cameras are always watching
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
Porn Britannia, Xi's absence & no more lonely hearts?
OnlyFans is giving the Treasury what it wants – but should we be concerned? 'OnlyFans,' writes Louise Perry, 'is the most profitable content subscription service in the world.' Yet 'the vast majority of its content creators make very little from it'. So why are around 4 per cent of young British women selling their wares on the site? 'Imitating Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips – currently locked in a competition to have sex with the most men in a day – isn't pleasant.' OnlyFans gives women 'the sexual attention and money of hundreds and even thousands of men'. The result is 'a cascade of depravity' that Perry wouldn't wish on her worst enemy. In business terms, however, OnlyFans is a 'staggering success', according to economics editor Michael Simmons. 'Britain's sex industry brings in far more to the economy than politicians are comfortable admitting'; OnlyFans might just be Britain's most profitable tech start-up. 'If we are going to wage a moral war on porn,' Simmons argues, 'we should at least be honest about what we're sacrificing.' Louise and Michael joined the podcast to discuss further (1:21). Next: could Xi Jinping's time be up? Historian Francis Pike writes about the unusual absence of China's President Xi. China-watchers have detected some subtle differences from the norm in Chinese media, from fewer official references to Xi to changes in routine politburo meetings. So, could Xi Jinping be forced to step down? And if so, who is on manoeuvres and why? Francis joined the podcast alongside former diplomat Kerry Brown, professor of China Studies at King's College London (22:31). And finally: is the era of the lonely hearts ad coming to an end? Tony Whitehead provides his notes on lonely hearts columns this week, writing about how, 330 years after they first appeared in print in Britain, they may soon disappear. Francesca Beauman – who literally wrote the book on the subject, Shapely Ankle Preferr'd – and Mark Mason join the podcast to provide their favourite examples, from the serious to the humorous (35:13). Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
BTS fan caught trying to break into band member Jungkook's home
A woman obsessed with K-pop group BTS has been caught trying to break into band member Jungkook's home just hours after he completed military Chinese woman in her 30s was seen punching random numbers on a combination lock outside Jungkook's apartment in Seoul at about 23:20 local time (14:00 GMT) on Wednesday, police had confessed to flying into Korea to see the singer, but ended up getting arrested for along with three other bandmates, were discharged from mandatory military service this week, prompting fan frenzy and increasing anticipation for a possible comeback. All seven BTS members are set to be discharged from the military by the end of this month and their agency Hybe has hinted at a reunion. They went on hiatus in 2022 at the height of their global of fans, some whom flew in from overseas, had gathered in front of Hybe's headquarters to celebrate their idols' return. Many of them were dressed in purple, BTS' signature colour, and carried large banners and photographs of the thanked fans for travelling to see him, adding that he was "a bit embarrassed" after not being in front of cameras for a while."I didn't even put on makeup," he said. South Korea requires all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 to serve for about two years in the military. Exceptions are sometimes made for Olympic medallists and classical musicians. Before BTS enlisted, South Korea saw furious debate over whether or not they should be allowed to skip the service, with some arguing that they had already served their country by earning it billions of dollars, and that it would be more beneficial to allow them to carry on doing band had previously won a deferral - when in 2020, the nation's parliament passed a bill allowing them to delay their duties until the age of 2022, the oldest member of BTS, Jin, enlisted, and the others followed suit.
