Pure dominance
Nearly two years ago, young snooker star Zhao Xintong was suspended from the sport for 20 months because of his role in a match-fixing scandal. On Monday night, he completed his ascension to the peak of his craft, winning the World Snooker Championship. He is both the first Asian and the first amateur to capture the crown.
I was so nervous tonight.”
Zhao defeated three-time champ Mark Williams in the finals at Sheffield, England’s Crucible Theatre. The match was largely a rout, as Zhao built a 17-8 lead in the race to 18 frames, but Williams did put up a late fight before Zhao ended it, 18 to 12.
“I can’t believe what I’ve done. It’s very exciting,” Zhao said afterward. “I was so nervous tonight. Mark is still a top player and put me under so much pressure. He’s the best.
“It’s a very special moment for me, for Chinese snooker, for everyone.”
Classy words from the runner-up
Zhao’s redemption arc was a long one. Because of his suspension, he was downgraded to amateur status and thus had to first wade through four rounds of qualifying before making it to main stage at the Crucible.
Sixteen of the 128 would-be qualifiers made it to the main stage, joining the top 16 players in the world snooker rankings.
For his part, the third-ranked Mark Williams, at 50 years young, became the oldest player to reach the World Snooker Championship finals. And he seemed to bear no ill will toward Zhao for his young opponent’s prior transgressions.
“It’s been a brilliant tournament for me. The support I’ve had for the past two weeks has been unbelievable.”
There’s a new superstar of the game.”
“But what a potter Zhao is,” he added. “I’m glad I’ll be too old when he’s dominating the game. 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.”
Mistake he has to live with
Zhao was one of ten people punished in June 2023 after an investigation into what is considered the worst match-fixing scandal in snooker history. Two of his fellow Chinese players, Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, were banned from the sport for life for not just fixing matches, but also putting pressure on younger players to join them.
Eight other players were banned for up to five years; Zhao received the lightest sentence at 20 months.
Zhao, who was already one of the best players in the world, avoided the worst of it because he did not actually fix any matches himself. He was found, though, to have had knowledge of the match-fixing and to have bet on matches.
He apologized for his transgressions, admitting to what the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association found him guilty of, and vowed to come back with a “cleaner image.”
