Strong return following ban for Zhao Xintong in Q Tour snooker debut

Former UK Championship and German Masters winner Zhao was banned from the professional snooker circuit in 2023 for his part in the high-profile match-fixing scandal involving several Chinese players.

However, having received the shortest punishment of all those found guilty by the independent panel, the ban issued by snooker's governing body the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association expired earlier this month, paving his way to entering WPBSA events.

Now aged 27-years-old, Zhao - who reached a world ranking high of 6 - is back playing in major amateur events in a bid to re-earn his World Snooker Tour professional status for the 2025/26 season.

The WPBSA Q Tour provides a pathway for this; with seven events across the season, the number one ranked player at the end of the campaign wins a tour card while the other highest ranked cueists on the list get invited to the Global Q Tour playoffs where a further three tour cards are on offer.

A total of 108 players representing 26 different countries entered the latest UK/Europe Q Tour event in the Bulgarian capital city. The first event of the season was won by Estonia's Andres Petrov in Leeds, England in August.

As a non-seed, Zhao had to play in the opening two rounds in order to reach the last 64 where the seeds begin their title tilts.

The Xi'an-born cueist began with a 3-0 victory over multiple-time Lithuanian national snooker champion Vilius Schulte-Ebbert.

In his second match, Zhao provided a reminder of his high-scoring prowess as he compiled breaks of 127, 124 and 57 in a 3-1 win against Welsh teenager Zac Cosker.

Zhao is set to face fellow ex-professional Craig Steadman in the last 64 on Saturday in a best-of-seven frames encounter. If he wins that, the last 32 is scheduled for later on Saturday, with the last 16 onwards completed all on Sunday.

UPDATE: Despite leading 2-0 and 3-2 with the help of breaks of 89, 50 and 59, Zhao lost 4-3 to Steadman on Saturday in the round of 64.