Jubilant Zhao Makes History As First World Champion From China

Zhao Xintong registered a seismic moment in snooker history as he became the first Chinese player to conquer the Crucible, beating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final of the Halo World Championship.

The final: frame by frame

In a final which was one-sided until a rousing finish, 28-year-old Zhao surged into a 7-1 advantage in the opening session and went on to lead 11-6 and 17-8 at the end of the next two sessions. Williams threatened an all-time unique fight-back when he recovered to 17-12, but Zhao eventually clinched the result in frame 30 with a break of 87 to capture the famous trophy and £500,000 top prize.

Since the emergence of Ding Junhui as a force 20 years ago, the question of when - and whether - a Chinese player would capture the sport's biggest prize has been asked repeatedly. Now we have the answer and Zhao is the man who has broken the frontier. And it is fitting that he has done so in a season where three other Chinese players have won ranking titles, and ten were among the 32 players who started out at the Crucible 17 days ago. Zhao will instantly become a megastar in his homeland and an inspiration to tens of millions of young fans who watch and play snooker.

"For the sport, Zhao winning it could be huge, it could open floodgates everywhere," said Williams at the end of the final. "We have a new superstar. It's what snooker needed, someone like him to come through. He will be a great World Champion. He is probably the best potter I have ever seen, I have nothing but admiration for him. He has bashed everyone up including Ronnie and me. Just watch him because he could dominate, or at least give Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson a run for their money."

Born in Xi'an in the Shaanxi province, Zhao spent his eighth birthday watching Ding win the 2005 China Open. By his early teens he was beating pro players in exhibitions, and first turned pro in 2016, moving to Sheffield where he still lives, within walking distance of the Crucible. In 2021 his major breakthrough came as he won the UK Championship and climbed into the top 16, soon doubling his tally of ranking titles at the 2022 German Masters. He was subsequently banned for 20 months for breaching betting regulations, but dedicated himself to practice during that period and regained his tour card via the Q Tour. Currently still an amateur, Zhao was awarded a place in the first qualifying round of this event and has grasped that opportunity.  

With a marvellous attacking style ands cue power reminiscent of a young Jimmy White, Zhao is a devastating long potter and break-builder, and has added tactical maturity to his game with a decade of experience. Across the event he made 18 centuries, equalling the record set by Ding in 2016. His most impressive asset is his unflappable nature on centre stage - indeed he was barely fazed by ties against all-time greats Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals and Williams in the final. Arguably now the most exciting player on the planet, Zhao could continue to improve in the coming years and establish himself as a leading contender for every major title. 

He becomes the third qualifier - after Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005 - to go all the way to the trophy, and sets a new record for the most matches won en route to the title, having scored four victories in the qualifying rounds and five more at the Crucible. He is the first amateur to win a ranking event, and the youngest World Champion since Murphy. 

Zhao becomes the 24th player to lift the trophy at the Crucible and the first Asian. Currently unranked, he will jump to 11th in the Johnstone's Paint World Rankings at the start of next season, and indeed will be seeded second for most events as World Champion. 

Williams, the oldest Crucible finalist at the age of 50, misses out on a fourth world crown which would have matched the tallies of John Higgins and Mark Selby. A 17-14 victory over world number one Judd Trump on Saturday was one of his best of recent years, but perhaps left him jaded for the first session of the final, and the veteran Welshman was unable to recover. The £200,000 runner-up prize lifts him to third in the world, a remarkable position for a player who turned professional five years before Zhao was even born.

Trailing 17-8 coming into the fourth and final session and playing for pride, Williams made a break of 101 in the opener tonight, his first century of the final. He added the next in two scoring visits, then early in frame 28 Zhao missed a tricky red on 6 and Williams replied with 96 to close the gap to 17-11. A massive fluke on a red in the next set Williams up for a break of 73 to take the session to an interval. In frame 30, Williams had one more chance to extend the fight back, but missed a red to a top corner on 8 and this time Zhao took his chance. 

Across the final, Zhao compiled breaks of 51, 77, 100, 57, 104, 83, 71, 56, 96, 71, 58, 52, 67 and 87.

"I can't believe it, I'm very excited," said Zhao after draping himself in a Chinese flag. "I was so nervous tonight. Mark is still a top player and put me under so much pressure. I will have a good drink tonight! Thank you to everyone in the crowd. It feels like a dream. Thank you to my parents, (manager) Victoria, my girlfriend, my coach when I was young, to WST, WPBSA and the CBSA academy.

"I knew if I missed then Mark would come back quickly. I had to really concentrate and be careful. In the last frame I just wanted to clean up the table, then I was very happy. When we shook hands I was nearly crying. It's very good for Chinese snooker and I am happy I have done this for the people there. I hope it will give power to the young players. I don't know how I have played so well here, I didn't believe I could become World Champion this year, I am so proud of myself. I will take the trophy home to China and show it to my parents and friends."

Williams added: "I was never in the final from the start, it was the only match where I didn't play well. I've had really tough, close matches. If I had got out of the first session 5-3 that would have been a result, but unfortunately it was 7-1. I gave it a go tonight but I was too far behind. I gave it my best and left nothing out there. I'm disappointed but it has been a great tournament. When I came down the stairs, the ovation was so loud, it was brilliant."