Zhao Xintong can become snooker's multi-million pound man with historic Crucible triumph

This time last year, Zhao didn’t have a professional tour card. He’d only just come back to competitive action earlier in the season following the expiration of his ban from the sport.

In a bid to earn back his top flight stripes, Zhao slogged away on the Q Tour - snooker’s secondary circuit played in clubs across Europe. The former UK Champion and top 16 star carved his way through the amateur scene, winning four consecutive events and finishing top of the rankings with an event still to go, therefore gaining promotion back to the big time.

As the Q Tour number one, he was invited to the world championship qualifiers where he navigated all four rounds to reach the main draw at the Crucible where he created history in becoming the first Asian winner of snooker’s blue riband tournament.

Zhao pocketed £500,000, and was also allowed to keep that total on his world ranking, instead of starting his new stint on tour with zero and at the bottom of the ladder.

The one-million pound season that could be more

Heading into this year’s world championship in Sheffield, the in-form Zhao is the outright favourite to lift the trophy off the back of a record-breaking season that has seen him scoop over £1 million in competition earnings alone.

His first competitive outing whilst wearing the world crown came at the Shanghai Masters last summer where he made the semi-finals and won £70,000. A couple of weeks later he picked up £30k for making the last 16 of the Saudi Arabia Masters, meaning he’d already earnt six-figures from the term.

Zhao then endured a lean spell on the World Snooker Tour, although still managed to collect smaller amounts of prize money. It was a lucrative November when business for him really picked up, as he reached the semi-finals of the International Championship (£33k) and Champion of Champions (£30k) in back-to-back weeks to build real momentum.

He didn’t have to wait long for his first trophy as the world champ, as later in the month he claimed the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship title in Saudi Arabia, trousering the £250,000 winner’s purse.

There was a downturn in results either side of Christmas, as Zhao failed to make an impact in either of the first two Triple Crown events of the season - although he still banked a total of £55,000 for his efforts in York and London.

At the Masters - the remaining accolade he requires to complete a ‘Career Triple Crown’ - Zhao was dramatically pipped by John Higgins on the final black in the deciding frame of their quarter-final encounter. However, Zhao would extract green baize revenge on the Scot later in the season, eliminating him from all three Players Series stops.

It wouldn’t be long until Zhao enjoyed a golden spell of results. He won his first ranking title of the term at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, the first leg of the latest Players Series.

An outcome that earned him £180,000, it could have been a very different story, though, as he trailed Mark Selby 4-1 in the last 16 before coming back to win, 5-4, and also surviving a deciding frame finish against Chris Wakelin in the following round.

Zhao needed to reach the final in Hong Kong to qualify for the second Players Series segment, the Players Championship, held later in the same month of February.

He went on to win the Players Championship in Telford - banking £150,000 and joining an elite club of back-to-back ranking event winners - and then the Tour Championship in Manchester in early April for another £150,000 payday, becoming the first player to claim all three Players Series crowns within the same season.

Should Zhao win the 2026 World Snooker Championship, he would have back-to-back world titles, break the ‘Crucible Curse’, and scoop £500,000.

Last year’s world final took place on May 5th. With this year’s title tie on May 4th, an historic triumph for Zhao would mean over £2 million in tournament winnings inside 12 months.

Despite only having returned to full-time top tier competition this season, he could also leave the Crucible as the world number one if results go his way.