Zhao Xintong stormed to a 7-1 lead in the Halo World Championship Final, after a session of total dominance against three-time Crucible king Mark Williams.
The 28-year-old is gunning to become China's first ever World Champion and has made an electric start to his bid in this final. He enjoyed a day off on Saturday, after beating Ronnie O'Sullivan with a session to spare in the semis.
Competing as an amateur, Zhao has come through four rounds of qualifying and four rounds at the Crucible to reach this stage. The final frame of the session was the 100th won by Zhao in this year's event. Victory would see Zhao become the first amateur to pick up the title should he win.
Welsh 50-year-old Williams is the oldest ever Crucible finalist. He first captured the title in Sheffield back in 2000. If he were to win the event, that would be the biggest ever gap between first and most recent World Championship wins. Williams earned his place in the final with a stunning win over world number one Judd Trump in the second semi-final yesterday evening.
The players were greeted by a rapturous reception when they emerged for the opening session this afternoon. Zhao hit the ground running with 77 to take the opener, before a break of exactly 100 put the former UK Champion 2-0 ahead.
A dramatic third frame saw both players miss final blacks, before Zhao eventually deposited it to move three up. Williams took the last before the mid-session to gain a foothold in the match at 3-1.
When play resumed, it was Zhao who crafted 57 to move 4-1 in front. Williams made 61 in the fifth, but an overcut red afforded Zhao his chance to come from behind and stretch his lead further. He ended the season with breaks of 104 and 83 to secure a 7-1 advantage.
The best of 35 encounter resumes at 7pm.