Snooker legend issues bold statement on what Zhao Xintong could do in order to dominate snooker
Former world snooker champion Ken Doherty believes that new Crucible King Zhao Xintong can dominate the sport if he cuts out ‘naivety’ from his game.
Chinese cueist Zhao created history on Monday night in Sheffield when he defeated Mark Williams 18-12 in the final to become the first Asian winner of the World Snooker Championship.
At 28-years-old, Zhao was the youngest player to win the sport's blue riband event in two decades, and he was only the third qualifier - after Terry Griffiths (1979) and Shaun Murphy (2005) - to lift the trophy at the Crucible Theatre.
Zhao was also technically an amateur, as his professional tour card is not reactivated until later in the year for the 2025/26 season. No amateur had previously been to the quarter-finals at the Crucible.
Prior to his well-documented 20-month ban for his part in the match-fixing scandal that broke during the 2022/23 season - albeit not having fixed the outcome of matches himself - Zhao was one of the hottest properties in the sport.
His big breakthrough came at the 2021 UK Championship in York when he defeated Luca Brecel in the final to win snooker's second most prestigious ranking title.
A few months later, Zhao added the German Masters accolade to his CV and rose to number six in the world rankings.
Following the expiration of his ban last September, Zhao tore up the Q Tour - snooker's secondary circuit - winning four consecutive events and finishing top of the rankings, thus earning back his professional stripes and an invite to the World Championship qualifiers.
RIDICULOUS TALENT!
— WST (@WeAreWST) May 7, 2025
Zhao Xintong at the #HaloWorldChampionship 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/LhMoGCO8jE
Speaking to Gambling.com, Doherty believes that Zhao can be a dominant force in the sport if he refines certain areas of his game.
The Irishman said: “I think he [Zhao Xintong] is the real deal. I think he could do anything he wants, as Stephen Hendry said, he can dominate the game.
“He [Xintong] is a little bit naive at times. He was sort of pushing the boat out and playing a lot of strange shots. He was desperate to get over the line, but he wanted to keep to his own philosophy of trying to go for the pots, no matter how difficult they were. It worked well for him, but in the shorter matches, he might struggle to find consistency.
“I think he needs to learn a little bit more ring-craft, like the way Judd Trump has changed his game a little bit, but still kept the most important things - like his long potting and his scoring power. Just adding new little dimensions or facets to his game.
“Once he adds those facets to his game, I think he will win a lot of tournaments and possibly another couple of world titles as well.”
There have been Asian players near the top of the sport for well over three decades now, although Zhao is the first to win snooker's ultimate prize.
Three-time ranking event winner and former world number three James Wattana was snooker's first big Asian superstar. Hong Kong's Marco Fu burst on to the top tier in the late 90s, going on to also claim three ranking event titles.
An 18-year-old Ding Junhui changed the course of snooker history in 2005 when he defeated Hendry in the final on home soil to win the China Open - becoming China's first winner of a professional ranking tournament.
That red letter day sparked a boom in popularity and participation across the Far East, and a conveyor belt of talent from the region has made its way on to the pro tour since, with several Chinese cueists lifting trophies on the premier circuit.
However, having a world champion from China for the first time could raise the bar again, with Doherty believing there could be even more interest now.
“They reckoned there were 200 or 300 million watching it in China - it’s quite incredible. When Ding [Junhui] came on the scene, snooker exploded in China. There’s 300,000 clubs in China alone. So I think there's going to be a greater interest [after Xintong’s World Championship win].
“He's going to become a very rich young man, and good luck to him. He deserves all the plaudits, promotions and positives that come with winning the World Championship. He'll be a good ambassador in the end, because in a way it's a good story about him coming back from his ban, and rising to the top after spending a two-year hiatus away from the game.
“Not from match fixing, but maybe just for naivety. And he held his hands up - after letting some of the other guys use his account to bet and stuff like that. But he served his time, came back and now there’s a little bit of a story of a prodigal son.”
Upon his arrival back home in China, Zhao was greeting by a big media presence at Shenzhen Airport.
Inevitably, being a first-time world champion, there is already talk of whether Zhao could be the person to finally break the 'Crucible Curse'. Both Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson fell victim to the hex in the opening round in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
In response to the question, Doherty said: “I don't know. It's going to be difficult. It's always difficult.
“It depends on how he goes through the season, and what sort of confidence he's got coming into the tournament.
“But he could win a few World Championships, there's no doubt about it. He's got age on the side, he's only 28, so when you compare him with some of the other guys, [Judd] Trump is 35, [Mark] Selby is 40, while [Mark] Williams, [Ronnie] O’Sullivan and [John] Higgins are all basically 50. So compared to them he has got so many more years still to come.