Zhao XINTong became the first Chinese player to win the World Snooker championship by beating Welshman and Three-Times Mark Williams in The Crucible Theatre on Monday, which is the last chapter in the wonderful Zhao story in Rise and Fall.
The 28 -year -old won 18 frameworks to 12 to become the first amateur to win the world title, despite the vibrant return of Williams.
“I can’t believe what I did,” said Zhao, who wraps in a Chinese flag. “I was very tense tonight. Mark is still a big player and puts me in great pressure. It’s the best.
“It is a very special moment for me, for the Chinese Sinker, for everyone.”
Zhao received a 20-month embargo in January 2023 after the scandal of the matches that shook this sport, whose repercussions mean that it was classified as amateurs in this event and needed to get four rounds of qualifiers to reach the crucible-a hard race to the address that started on April 7.
The Chinese player, who lives only 10 minutes on foot from Crucible, got 11-6 during the night at the third session on Monday.
While Zhao looked completely unpopular and continued to smile throughout the afternoon, Williams struggled for accuracy and seemed helpless to prevent his opponent from taking 17-8 progress, which means that Zhao needed to win only one frame in the evening final to demand the world title.
But the free Williams made things interesting by winning the first four tires in the evening with a set of excellent shots before he answered the younger player in the fifth to ensure victory.
The final was already historically regardless of the result, as Williams, the 50 -year -old, became the oldest player to the final match by winning the semi -finals over Trump’s number one.
“It was a great championship for me,” said Williams, fighting with tears. “The support I got during the past two weeks was incredible.
“But what is Potter Chao. I am happy to be old when he dominated the game. I only liked what he did, and they were through the qualifiers. He did not play for two years, and he hit everyone. There is a new star for the game.”
Zhao has swept the seven -time -winning Rooney Osoulvan in the semi -finals to create what was described as the coronation of a new Snowker King.
The Chinese player, nicknamed “The Cyclone”, raced an early feature of 7-1 in the 35-frame competition, but Williams organized a mini review in the second session on Sunday to keep his hopes in the fourth title.
However, no player has overcome a big deficit during the night since the championship moved to the crucible in 1977.
Zhao joined Terry Griffits and Shaun Murphy as the only qualifying for capturing the most famous cup in Snooker.
He achieved a check of 500,000 pounds ($ 664,000.00) by winning on Monday, while Williams won 200,000 (265,000 dollars) and climbed to third in the world ranking.
Williams was struggling with vision and play problems without glasses or lenses in contact while waiting for lens replacement surgery in June.
Williams said: “I still play good things, although my optics are somewhat blurry,” Williams said.