Zhao Xintong of China became Asia's first world snooker champion after beating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final on Monday, completing a remarkable career turnaround following his involvement in the sport's biggest match-fixing scandal.
Zhao captured the sport's biggest prize — as well as a winner's check of 500,000 pounds ($670,000) — at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield just months after returning to competitive action following a 20-month ban.
The fixing scandal in 2023 involved 10 Chinese players in total and left snooker under a cloud, especially in China, the sport's biggest market in the television landscape and a country that makes up more than 50% of snooker's global audience.
Zhao is now the pride of China, winning the world championship while playing as an amateur — he'll return to the professional ranks next season — and having come through four rounds of qualifiers just to get to the main draw at the Crucible.
''I think I had a dream,'' Zhao said. ''Maybe I'm not sure this is true.''
The 50-year-old Williams was bidding to become the oldest ever world champion as well as a four-time winner, but never recovered from trailing 7-1 after the first of the final's four sessions across Sunday and Monday.
Zhao, a fearless, attacking left-hander, showed few nerves in a match which World Snooker Tour officials estimated was being watched by a potential audience of 150-200 million live streams in China and a cumulative audience of 50-150 million on China's CCTV5.
Even after Williams won the first four frames of the last session to go from 17-8 to 17-12, Zhao stayed composed to compile a break of 87 in what proved to be the last frame, after which he unfurled the flag of China and hung it over his shoulders to the backdrop of applause.
