Sawt Falasteen - 'New superstar' Zhao's world title heralds Chinese snooker revolution

Zhao's fairytale triumph at Sheffield's Crucible on Monday 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.

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."

- 'It's like a dream' -

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.

"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 will start next season at number 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 will serve as the spark for a golden era for Chinese snooker.

China already has a national snooker academy in Beijing training the country's best young players.

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 Davis 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."

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST