Zhao Xintong on Monday was hailed as snooker’s “new superstar” after winning the World Championship with an 18-12 victory over Mark Williams that heralded a Chinese revolution in the sport.
Zhao’s fairy-tale triumph at Sheffield’s Crucible was a watershed moment for snooker.
The sport’s popularity in China has grown exponentially over the past two decades, helped by the success of Ding Junhui, who served as an inspiration for Zhao.
Photo: AFP
Ding lost the 2016 World Championship final to Mark Selby, but Zhao ended the wait for a first Asian male world snooker champion with a sublime display against three-time winner Williams.
The 28-year-old is just the third qualifier to win the title since the World Championship moved to the Crucible in 1977.
Zhao is the youngest world champion since Shaun Murphy, who won aged 22 in 2005.
He is the first amateur player to win the world title, having lost his tour card in January 2023 for his part in a match-fixing scandal.
That controversy threatened to derail Zhao’s promising career when he was hit with a 20-month ban. Zhao accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself in a controversy that led to 10 Chinese players being punished, with life bans for Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, but his road to redemption reached an emotional climax at the Crucible, just 10 minutes walk from his home in Sheffield.
Williams first won the tournament 25 years ago and was bidding to become snooker’s oldest world champion aged 50.
With that wealth of experience, he is better placed than most to rank Zhao against the current generation and he believes the left-hander could be set to dominate for years to come.
“There’s a new superstar of the game. He just strolls around the table and pots balls from anywhere as if he doesn’t have a care in the world,” Williams said. “Xintong is going to be a national hero now. He’ll be on the front page of every news outlet going and I’m sure there are Chinese companies ready to throw zillions at him. It’s great for our sport to have someone at the top who is so attacking and so young.”
Nicknamed “The Cyclone,” Zhao had been touted as Ding’s heir apparent since winning the UK Championship in 2021, with Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White singling him out as a future star.
He has come of age in spectacular style.
Zhao crushed O’Sullivan in the semi-finals and his win over Williams was his 47th in 49 matches since he returned from suspension in the inauspicious surroundings of a Q Tour event in Sofia in September last year.
“It’s like a dream. I can’t believe it,” Zhao said. “There was big pressure and I was a bit nervous because I knew I couldn’t miss. I knew he could come back so quickly so I had to concentrate and be very careful.”
Zhao is to start next season at No. 11 in the world rankings.
He has joined nine other Chinese players in the world’s top 32, with England the only nation with more ranked in the top echelons.
John Parrott, who won the world title in 1991, believes Zhao’s win would serve as the spark for a golden era for Chinese snooker.
China already has a national snooker academy in Beijing training the nation’s best young players and millions of Chinese fans were said to have tuned into the final to witness Zhao’s coronation.
“You think about how many snooker clubs they’ve got in China, clubs with hundreds of tables, and the population in general. He’s going to inspire another wave of players in China and all over Asia,” Parrott said. “There will be more to come. Whether they will be as talented as him, I don’t know, because this boy is very talented.”
Steve Davis, a six-time world champion, knows what it takes to dominate the sport after his run in the 1980s and he is convinced Zhao can enjoy a similar reign at the Crucible.
“You see the quality of Zhao Xintong, it’s the future and the shape of things to come,” he said. “Every time anybody put anything up to him, he responded. He’s a cool customer. He just takes everything in his stride and he’s going to be a danger in the future.”
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS