Stephen Hendry makes bold world titles prediction for dethroned Crucible champion Zhao

Zhao’s hopes of going back-to-back in Sheffield and breaking the ‘Crucible Curse’ were stopped by Shaun Murphy who defeated him 13-10 in the quarter-finals on Wednesday afternoon.

It resulted in Zhao becoming the 21st first-time world champion at the Crucible who was unable to successfully defend the title the following year.

The 29-year-old created history twelve months ago when he was crowned the first world professional snooker champion from Asia. He also technically did it as an amateur with his professional tour card not active until a few months later, meaning he had to navigate all four rounds of qualifying merely to reach the main draw, televised stages.

Then at the Crucible, he won a further five matches, defeating former three-time winner Mark Williams 18-12 in the final.

After a difficult start, Zhao flourished into his maiden season whilst wearing the world crown. His first title as the world champ came at the 2025 Riyadh Season Championship where he saw off Murphy, Judd Trump, and then Neil Robertson in the final to pocket the £250,000 first prize in Saudi Arabia.

It was in the new year, though, when Zhao really kicked into action, as he claimed the fourth ranking title of his career at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

Only a few weeks later in Telford he won the Players Championship, and shortly before his trip to the Crucible he won the Tour Championship in Manchester, coasting to the trophy with a frame aggregate record of 30-8.

That triumph meant Zhao made more green baize history in becoming the first player to win all three Players Series events within the same season.

Because of this - and having crushed world number one Trump 10-3 in the Tour final - Zhao was installed as the outright favourite to win the 2026 World Snooker Championship.

‘The Cyclone’ began his title defence with a 10-7 opening round win over Liam Highfield - which wasn’t without a few concerns when the qualifier was on the cusp on going 6-5 up at one point - before denying compatriot Ding Junhui 13-9 in a blockbuster last 16 encounter.

Having initially gone 3-0 up on Murphy in the round of eight, Zhao trailed 5-3 after the opening session and faced a battle trying to restore parity. He did so at 8-8, but 2005 champion Murphy put in an inspired performance across the concluding frames.

Hendry would be “shocked” if Zhao doesn’t win at least four world titles

Seven-times world champion Hendry - who has been working as a commentator and pundit for the BBC during its coverage of the 2026 World Snooker Championship - was in the box for the closing frames on Wednesday.

A big fan of Zhao’s work, as Murphy was wrapping up the victory to end his opponent’s defence, Hendry replied to co-commentator Steven Hallworth’s comment about it being a tremendous twelve months for the world champion, with a bold claim.

"If Zhao Xintong doesn't win at least four world titles I'll be shocked” said the 36-time ranking event winner.

"He's that good. He is the future of the game, but what a performance from Shaun Murphy.”

It was a brave, but understandable statement from Hendry given Zhao’s golden spell in recent months. He has earned over £1.5 million in prize money within the past 12 months, and could well be the world number one for the first time in his career at some point next season. Currently Trump holds on to that status heading into the new campaign.

Interestingly, earlier in the Championship, Hendry refused to say that 22-year-old Wu Yize - who is more than six years younger than fellow countryman Zhao - will become a world champion, although he did state that he feels Wu will be a top four ranked player.

Wu made his big career breakthrough last November when he won his maiden ranking event title at the International Championship, on home soil. Several weeks later, he was within a few pots of making the Masters final on his debut in the prestigious invitational.

A Crucible seed for the first time, Wu had never won a match on the Crucible stage before brushing aside Lei Peifan 10-2 in the first round of this year’s competition. The world number 10 then defeated four-time world champion Mark Selby in the last 16, and the last remaining qualifier in the draw, Hossein Vafaei, in the quarter-finals.

Experiencing the one-table set-up for the first time in his fledgling career, Wu meets Mark Allen in the semi-finals.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.

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