Sports finance expert believes World Snooker Champion Zhao Xintong could surpass wealth of Ronnie O'Sullivan

China's Zhao created snooker history on Monday night in Sheffield when he defeated Mark Williams 18-12 in the showpiece match to be crowned the first Asian winner of the sport's blue riband event.

The momentous victory saw Zhao pocket the £500,000 top prize, but the financial rewards and spin-offs of such an achievement could be far more lucrative in the long run.

Just a few days after his title success, Zhao flew back home as a national hero, and was greeted by a huge media presence on his arrival at Shenzhen Airport.

Fellow countryman Ding Junhui is China's original snooker superstar. It was 20 years ago last month that Ding changed the course of snooker history when - as an 18-year-old - he defeated Stephen Hendry in the final to win the 2005 China Open on home soil. It was the first time that a Chinese player had won a professional snooker ranking event.

That landmark result sparked a chain reaction that changed the characteristics of the professional game, with several huge events being staged in the Far East country and a conveyor belt of Chinese talent emerging through on to the top tier.

Several of those players went on to lift trophies on the World Snooker Tour, and for the start of the 2025/26 season, five of the world's top 16 ranked players will be from China.

Ding has been a huge name across the country over the past two decades and recompensed handsomely with many lucrative sponsorship deals and appearances.

Now, Zhao is set to follow suit given his unprecedented win for his country on snooker's grandest stage.

Speaking to AceOdds, sport finance expert Rob Wilson commented: “Winning the World Snooker Championship in itself will open the door to a completely different financial universe for Zhao Xintong. The title itself comes with half a million pounds worth of prize money. That's immediate.

“The bigger opportunity of course for him will be endorsement, sponsorships and the exhibition circuit especially given his marketability in China. We know that the Chinese population are avid followers of snooker and of course it is a major competition that's followed over in the Far East.

Wilson is correct. Despite there having been an awkward time difference for those viewing in China, an estimated audience of 150 million people tuned in from Zhao's home land to watch him win the world title on Monday night.

“We've seen players like Ding Junhui being able to tap into that domestic audience of essentially hundreds of millions" said Wilson.

"So if Zhao can leverage that sort of audience, you're looking at multi-million pound commercial deals across clothing, apparel, equipment. They also do branded academies. There's one in Sheffield for Ding.

Could Zhao Xintong’s net worth be bigger than Ronnie O’Sullivan’s?

However, the scale of Zhao's potential wealth will ultimately come down to whether he can remain successful on the baize, explains Wilson: “Then of course there are media appearances, but with anything that I talk about in the context of sporting success, you know it's a big but, whether he becomes the richest player of all time will depend on that sustained success that he will need over the next decade or so.

“One title simply isn't enough. He'll need to build that legacy over the next five to 10 years at least to give him a platform with consistent top tier performances, then if he's able to do that, you could probably realistically expect him to surpass even players like Ronnie O'Sullivan.

“O'Sullivan is on 15-20 million career earnings when you factor in both prize money and off the table income. So it’s a huge opportunity for Zhao, the first step in what could be a seriously lucrative financial journey.”

Zhao defeated O’Sullivan en route to the world title, crushing the record-equalling seven-time Crucible champion 17-7 with a session to spare in the semi-finals.

In the final against another member of the famed ‘Class of 92’ - despite a late rally from his opponent - Zhao won fairly comfortably by a margin of six frames.

There are 22 years between Zhao and Williams - the biggest age gap ever seen between two world final opponents in the sport.

Aged 28, Zhao is the youngest winner of the World Snooker Championship since Shaun Murphy’s success in 2005. Whilst younger talent will likely emerge and threaten, Zhao is a lot younger than his peers who currently join him near the top of the world rankings, and he could enjoy a long time at the top.

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