Zhao Xintong defeats Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach maiden World Snooker Championship final

Former UK Champion Zhao becomes the second player from China to reach snooker's showpiece match, following in the footsteps of Ding Junhui who made the final in 2016.

It has been a remarkable journey for 28-year-old Zhao who only returned to competitive action last September following the expiration of his ban from the sport.

Following his recent success on the Q Tour - snooker’s secondary circuit - that has seen him win back his professional tour card from next season, Zhao was invited to this year’s blue riband event as an amateur.

The two-time ranking event champion had to begin his campaign in the first qualifying round, but at the English Institute of Sport, Zhao navigated his way through the preliminaries gauntlet, winning four matches to book his spot in the 32-player main draw for the Crucible.

On snooker’s grandest stage in front of the television cameras, Zhao dismissed last year’s runner-up Jak Jones 10-4 in round one proper before eliminating compatriot Lei Peifan - the conqueror of reigning champion Kyren Wilson - 13-10 in the last 16.

Having made history in becoming the first non-tour card holder to make the quarter-finals, Zhao defeated fellow qualifier Chris Wakelin 13-5 to progress to the one-table set-up.

Against seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan in the semi-finals, Zhao settled down by depositing the opening two frames, although 'The Rocket' responded with a three-frame winning streak to take the lead at 3-2 up.

The next two frames were shared, but Zhao secured the final frame of the first session to square proceedings up at 4-4.

The damage was done by Zhao during an explosive second session on Friday morning where he won all eight frames to assume total command.

Breaks of 57, 112, 82, 57, 67, 115 and 87 helped Zhao inflict the fourth Crucible session whitewash defeat of O'Sullivan's long, illustrious career.

Between the first two sessions, O'Sullivan elected to change the ferrule on his cue from titanium to brass. However, the equipment change didn't seem to help, as he struggled and amassed just a total of 100 points across those eight frames.

On resumption in the evening, record 41-time ranking event winner O'Sullivan briefly threatened a comeback as he capitalised on his opponent's errors to notch up the opening two frames of the session and stop Zhao's nine-frame streak.

However, runs of 62 and 128 aided Zhao to the next two frames which re-established his eight-frame cushion.

Back in the arena after the mid-session interval, a 57 break - his first half-century since frame seven - contributed to O'Sullivan adding another on his side of the scoreboard.

But efforts of 85, 63 and 88 across the next three frames assisted Zhao in getting over the finish line, and not needing to bother to return on Saturday afternoon for what was supposed to be their scheduled fourth and concluding session.

Zhao’s road to redemption

Zhao was one of ten Chinese professionals who were banned in 2023 for their involvement in the match-fixing scandal that rocked the sport.

Punishments were of differing severities depending on their part, but Zhao’s - who was found not to have actually fixed matches himself - was a relatively short one, with an early admission and guilty plea contributing to that issued length.

On this season’s Q Tour - a circuit open to any amateur player - Zhao won four successive events, compiled two maximum 147 breaks, and was guaranteed to come top of the rankings with one event still to go.

That feat won him back his professional tour stripes from the 2025/26 season, but the former world number six got a taste of the top tier earlier than that as he was one of several top amateur players to be invited to the UK Championship and World Championship qualifiers.

At the UK qualifiers back in November, Zhao also won four preliminary matches to reach the televised stages at the Barbican Centre in York where he was ousted by Shaun Murphy 6-5 in round one. That was his first match in a professional arena in nearly two years.

Just a few months on, Zhao now stands one win away from becoming China’s first-ever world professional snooker champion.

He will face either world number one Judd Trump or three-time world champion Mark Williams in the best-of-35 frames final on Monday and Tuesday.

Having defeated O’Sullivan with a session to spare, Zhao can relax and prepare with a day off on Saturday, while Trump and Williams are set to share the baize both in the morning and evening sessions at the Crucible.

Speaking with the BBC shortly after his win, Zhao said: "I can't believe that. I need to say thank you to Ronnie because he has helped me a lot before. He's my idol.

"I've just tried to enjoy the Crucible. It's my first time playing on the single table here, it's an amazing time for me and I just want to enjoy it because I don't know how many times I can try to enjoy it here.

"I've played here and sometimes the crowd is helpful for Ronnie and he deserves that, he is a legend here so I needed to control myself."

Zhao is into the third ranking event final of his career. He defeated Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final to win the 2021 UK Championship, and he whitewashed fellow countryman Yan Bingtao 9-0 in the 2022 German Masters title match a few months later.

Please visit our 2025 World Snooker Championship tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, format and order of play.