Ding Junhui's dad made feelings clear as Zhao Xintong becomes China's first snooker World Champion
Ding Junhui's dad made feelings clear as Zhao Xintong becomes China's first snooker World Champion
An inspired Zhao Xintong broke new ground at the Crucible on Monday as he was named Asia's first world snooker champion, and an iconic compatriot's father made his feelings known
Zhao Xintong has become China's first World Snooker Championship winner
(Image: Getty Images )
World champion Zhao Xintong earned the admiration of fellow Chinese snooker superstar Ding Junhui's father before his Crucible domination. Ding will forever be known as the potter who brought the game of snooker forward leaps and bounds in his homeland of China, inspiring generations with his trio of UK Championship titles and 2011 Masters win.
The man who spearheaded the Asian nation becoming a powerhouse within the sport looked for the longest time as though he would be the first from its shores to be named world champion, reaching the final in 2016. However, that title now goes to a different man, who first tasted ranking success at the UK Championship in 2021.
Qualifier Zhao, fresh off a 20-month ban for betting breaches as part of a match fixing saga that saw 10 Chinese players suspended, has rattled through the field in Sheffield and bested a resurgent Mark Williams 18-12 to lift the World Snooker Championship title and bank £500,000 on Monday.
After the clash, The Cyclone spoke to TNT Sports about his win, and was queried on his influential countryman Ding, being informed about how highly the 15-time ranking winner's father regards him.
TNT presenter Radzi Chinyanganya spoke to Zhao after his stunning win, and while on the topic of potter Ding, he said: "Ding's father is a big fan of yours. He says your character is very, very good. So even as a young boy, you had good character."
The world champion replied: "Yeah, I know Uncle Ding. He helped me a lot before. And, when I was young, sometimes he would ask me, 'What do you want to do?'"
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Ding's father reportedly thinks the world of Zhao
(Image: PA )
While Zhao appeared collected in this chat, immediately after he claimed glory from Class of '92 hero Williams, who became the oldest-ever finalist when he made the showpiece this time around, the 28-year-old stated that winning this tournament was always a dream.
"I can't believe it. I am so happy. It feels like a dream right now," said Zhao. "I can't believe it's come true. I can't believe what I've done this month. It's been really exciting.
"My parents, Victoria and my girlfriend and my coach when I was wrong thank you. I'll have a good drink tonight to celebrate. I just want to thank everybody for their support. I was so nervous tonight. He put me under so much pressure."
Opponent Williams was full of praise for the Chinese star, even comparing him to another sporting phenom who has brought on his own game leaps and bounds, Luke Littler.
"I'm glad I'll be too old when he's dominating the game," revealed 50-year-old Williams, who already has 26 ranking titles to his illustrious name.
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"I've got nothing but admiration for what he's done, coming through the qualifiers. He hasn't played for two years, bashed everybody up. There's a new superstar of the game.
"It could be huge for the sport. It could open floodgates everywhere. He could dominate or at least give [Judd] Trump or Kyren [Wilson] a run for their money.
"With the Luke Littler thing in darts. This is what snooker needed: someone like him coming through. It is bound to open doors. It will be front page on every news outlet going."
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