Zhao Xintong lived up to his billing as one of the favourites for the 2025 World Snooker Championship title with a brilliant display against Jak Jones on Sunday.
The 28 year-old may be playing under amateur status as he continues his comeback from a betting-related ban from the sport.
But the former UK champion looks very much like one of the best players in the world at present after a scintillating opening session on day two in Sheffield.
Bookies rate Zhao as the fourth favourite at the Crucible Theatre this year behind Judd Trump, Mark Selby, and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Opening up a 7-2 advantage over Jones puts him in a strong position to reach the last 16 for the second time in his career.
Zhao, who compiled 12 century breaks in the qualifiers where he won four rounds to progress to the venue stages, dominated last year’s runner-up.
A break of 84 in the first frame set the tone for what was to come, with the Chinese star adding contributions of 142, 91, 76, 70, and 61 in a blistering performance.
The only blip of note came in the concluding frame of the session when a missed red let Jones in to secure a second frame.
Before he got caught up in the match-fixing scandal a few years ago that resulted in the ban of 10 competitors from China, Zhao Xintong had reached as high as number six in the world rankings.
A standout success at the 2021 UK Championship, where he beat Luca Brecel in the final, was quickly followed by a victory at the German Masters in Berlin.
It had been widely expected that he would continue to feature at the business end of the biggest events.
Yet he was duly found guilty of betting on snooker and for failing to report his knowledge of the match-fixing ring, but he was ultimately cleared of the more serious charges involving match fixing itself.
Since returning to the sport in September last year, Zhao has had to rebuild his career on the amateur Q Tour circuit.
He bowed out early in his first event back but followed that up with four successive triumphs in Q Tour events, knocking in a brace of 147 breaks in the process.
Those displays sent him to the top of the Q Tour rankings, guaranteeing his return to the main tour as a professional from the beginning of next season.
Zhao, however, will be intent on ending this current campaign as the sport’s world snooker champion.
He will need three more frames on Monday morning to see off the challenge of Jones if he is to set up an intriguing second-round clash with Lei Peifan.
The latter stunned reigning world champion Kyren Wilson on the opening day of the competition, overturning a 6-2 deficit to eventually prevail with a 10-9 scoreline.
An impressive start to this year’s tournament for the Chinese contingent continued on Sunday with Xiao Guodong beating Matthew Selt 10-4.
There are a record ten players from China in the World Snooker Championship draw this year, with a very real possibility that a maiden Crucible champion from the country could transpire in 2025.
“I am very proud,” Wuhan Open winner Xiao, who compiled breaks of 120 and 109, told the World Snooker Tour.
“Lei was unbelievable last night. When I look back 20 years ago, there was only Ding [Junhui] and Marco Fu.”
“Now to have ten Chinese players at the Crucible is amazing. In the future, there will be many more young talents.
“I see them come to the UK. I am an older player, and [when] I can help them, I always try my best.”
Featured photo credit: WST
