Zhao Xintong of China became the first Asian player to win the World Snooker Championship after beating Mark Williams 18-12 on May 5th.
To take Snooker “to another level”
“I can’t believe it. It’s like a dream,” said Zhao, who served out a 20-month ban for breaching betting regulations last September and earned his place by winning four qualifiers as an amateur.
Williams became World Snooker Champion three times. This time, he was up against Zhao, who was born in 1997. The 22-year age gap between them marks the largest age gap between finalists in World Snooker Championship history.
Williams called the 28-year-old a “superstar”, and Jason Ferguson – chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) – said Zhao was set to take snooker “to another level”.
“We are talking about a national hero – he has entered the history books of this sport and in China he will probably be one of the biggest stars there,” Ferguson told BBC Sport.
The 28-year-old also became only the third qualifier after Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy to capture snooker’s biggest prize since the tournament moved to Sheffield in 1977.
Snooker’s biggest market
The impact in China, now snooker’s biggest market, could be far-reaching. The final was screened on state television and World Snooker Tour, which runs the professional circuit, expected up to 150 million viewers.
“It is very good for Chinese snooker and I am very happy I have done this for them,” Zhao said to media. “I can’t believe I could become world champion in such a short time, so I am so proud of myself.”
The 2025 World Snooker Championship saw a record-breaking 10 Chinese players reach the main draw, with six of them making it to the last 16, the highest number in the tournament’s history.
Written by Yetao Gu, additional reporting by Xinhua.
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