3 weeks ago
324
Zhao Xintong made history as he became the first player from China to win the World Championship with an 18-12 victory over Mark Williams in Sheffield.
The 28-year-old had extended his 11-6 overnight lead with a dominant display on Monday afternoon to begin the concluding session 17-8 ahead.
Willed on by a buoyant Crucible crowd, three-time winner Williams compiled wonderful breaks of 101, 96 and 73 on his way to collecting the first four frames of the evening.
And 40 years on from the iconic black-ball final when Dennis Taylor came from 8-0 and 9-1 down to defeat Steve Davis, it briefly raised hopes of another astonishing revival.
However, the Welshman, who has already achieved a notable landmark by becoming the Crucible's oldest ever finalist, six weeks after turning 50, was ultimately only able to delay the inevitable.
Having largely been consigned to his seat, Zhao - whose journey to becoming champion remarkably began 29 days ago and included him having to win four qualifying matches and 111 frames in total - wrapped up a famous success with a run of 87.
It was no more than his scintillating form over the 17-day televised event deserved.
"This is like a dream. I can't believe it. There was big pressure and big nerves. I knew if I missed he could come back quickly," he told BBC Sport.
"I was so nervous tonight. Mark is still a top player and put me under so much pressure. He's the best."
Along with the £500,000 top prize, he will climb to 11th in the world rankings when he returns to the main professional tour next season.
Zhao, who won the UK title in 2021, is the first amateur to triumph at the Crucible. He also becomes only the third qualifier after Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy to claim snooker's biggest prize since the tournament's 1977 move to Sheffield.
His achievement is all the more extraordinary given he was still suspended from the sport 12 months ago, with his burgeoning career abruptly halted when he was one of 10 Chinese players sanctioned in 2023 following an investigation into match-fixing.
While Zhao did not directly throw a match, he accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself, and for those offences he received a 20-month ban.
His win over Williams was his 47th from 49 matches this term and vindicated the bookmakers' decisions to install him as one of the favourites before the tournament even got under way.
Zhao's win over Williams was a long-awaited moment for China, nine years on from Ding Junhui's 18-14 defeat by Mark Selby in the 2016 final.
"It is very good for Chinese snooker and I am very happy I have done this for them.
"I can't believe I could become world champion in such a short time [after the ban] so I am so proud of myself. It was nearly two years playing no competition, so my first target was to qualify.
"Now this will give them [children in China] power and in the future many Chinese players can do this."
It simply looked like a match too far for Williams, who overcame well-documented eye problems to reach a fifth final.
He appeared drained at times, following his semi-final success against world number one Judd Trump.
The 'Welsh Potting Machine' lost the two afternoon sessions by an aggregate score of 13-3 - a margin that proved too wide in a match which is sure to be viewed as a changing-of-the-guard moment.
"Unfortunately I was just never in the final from day one. I was behind from the start and could not get into it," said Williams.
"I said that if I could get out of the first session at 5-3 down it would have been a result, but I was 7-1 down and it was a bit far for me to get back.
"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."
