Emotional Zhao Xintong shares touching moment with rarely-seen girlfriend after World Snooker Championship triumph
ZHAO XINTONG shared a touching moment with his girlfriend after being crowned snooker world champion.
China's Xintong, 28, became the first man from Asia to win the World Snooker Championship.
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He beat Mark Williams 18-12 in a dominant final at the Crucible.
Xintong's manager and 'second mum' Victoria Shi immediately ran over to give him a Chinese flag to wrap around his shoulders.
And then he got his hands on the famous trophy.
With his parents watching back home in China - his mum has never been on a plane - it was Victoria and Xintong's girlfriend Yiyi who joined him beside the table for the celebrations.
The trio were all smiles for the cameras as they posed with the trophy, with Yiyi appearing to hold back tears in the emotion of her man's victory.
And then she showed her kind heart with a lovely moment.
Yiyi spotted a piece of red confetti from the ticker tape had landed in Xintong's hair without him realising.
So as she made way for him to have more photos, Yiyi delicately plucked the rogue confetti out.
Xintong thanked his girlfriend, head of Sheffield Snooker Academy Shi and his parents in a classy victory speech.
He said: "I can't believe this. Yes, I can't believe what I have done in this match. I'm very excited. Thank you.
'I have been so nervous. Mark is a top player and gave me so much pressure. He's the best.
'I'm not tired. I will celebrate, maybe have a good drink tonight.
"I need to say thank you to everybody coming here. Thank you everybody.
'I can't believe this. I think I am dreaming. Maybe it's true.
"Thank you to my parents, manager Victoria and girlfriend, WST and CBSA academy.'
Xintong only returned from a 20-month ban for his involvement in a snooker match-fixing corruption scandal seven months ago.
It saw him have his professional status revoked, meaning he technically won at the Crucible as an amateur.
After coming through four rounds of qualifying then sweeping away the rest of the field, Xintong picked up a winner's cheque for £500,000.
He also rises to No11 in the world rankings - but confusion and controversy over his prize money and ranking have left rival snooker stars "up in arms".
But there was clearly no hard feelings from Williams.
The Welshman was glowing in his praise for Xintong at the end of the final.
He said: "What a potter he is over there, I'm glad I will be too old when he's dominating the game.
'I have nothing but admiration for what he has done, having come through the qualifiers.
'He hasn't played for two years, bashed Ronnie up, bashed me up, bashed everybody up.
'There's a new superstar of the game and he's over there."
The finalists then posed for a hilarious photo with Williams pretending to punch Xintong, who was holding the trophy backstage.
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