Search Results - Xintong Zhao

Zhao Xintong

| w = | ci = }} Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player and the reigning World Snooker Champion. He first turned professional in the 2016–17 season, aged 19, having previously recorded wins against a number of top professionals while competing as an amateur wildcard. He had a breakthrough season in 2021–22, during which he won his first ranking title at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luca Brecel 10–5 in the final, and first entered the top 16 in the snooker world rankings. He won his second ranking title at the 2022 German Masters with a 90 victory over Yan Bingtao in the final; he became only the third player, after Steve Davis and Neil Robertson, to win a two-session ranking final without conceding a single . He was ranked sixth in the world after the 2021–22 season.

In January 2023, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association suspended Zhao as part of a match-fixing investigation involving ten Chinese players. He was subsequently charged with having knowledge of match-fixing and betting operations on the World Snooker Tour. Following an independent disciplinary tribunal, he was banned from competition for 30 months, although the WPBSA reduced his ban to 20 months, given his early admissions and guilty plea. Having lost his professional status, he returned to competition as an amateur player after his ban expired on 1 September 2024. He won four Q Tour events in a row between October 2024 and January 2025, thereby guaranteeing that he would top the 2024–25 Q Tour Europe rankings and regain his professional status for the start of the 2025–26 season.}} He became the first player to make a maximum break on the Q Tour, achieving the feat twice in Events 3 and 4.

Still competing as an amateur, Zhao qualified for the main stage of the 2024 UK Championship but lost to Shaun Murphy in the first round. At the 2025 World Snooker Championship, he won four qualifying matches to reach the main stage, where he went on to defeat Ronnie O'Sullivan 177 in the semi-finals and Mark Williams 1812 in the final to win his first world title, second Triple Crown title, and third ranking title. He became the first player from mainland China and also the first from Asia to win the world title; he was also the first player to win a ranking event while competing as an amateur. He became the fourth qualifier to win the world title, after Alex Higgins, Terry Griffiths, and Murphy. His performance at the World Championship meant that on his return to the professional tour, he would be entering the snooker world rankings as world number 11. Provided by Wikipedia