Who is Zhao Xintong? The Chinese “amateur” on the edge of the World Cup -Ruhm after the ban

Zhao Xintong's hopes of becoming the first Chinese player to win the world's snooker championship became a big buoyancy after building an impressive 11: 6 lead over Mark Williams in the final in the crucible.

Zhao booked his place in the final with a dazzling snooker exhibition and swept Ronnie O'Sullivan aside in an extraordinary semi-finals to secure the game with a session.

As a result, a collision with 50-year-old Williams was set up in a best-of-35 encounter on Sunday and Monday after the Welsh Judd Trump defeated 17: 14 in a fascinating semi-finals. And Zhao got into a 7-1 lead after the first session, with Williams slightly restricted to 11: 6 in the second session. 18 frames the goal for victory.

The 28-year-old plays as an amateur in Sheffield and had not participated in a professional tournament before the start of the season since 2022. In view of the fact that he already has a triple crown title in his pocket, this is not an ordinary amateur snooker player.

It has been complex for Zhao's history in recent years. After the left-hander won the British championship in 2021 in 2021 to make his arrival properly, he has blocked Snooker for his role in the matchfixing scandal in the past two years, which devoured a number of sport's greatest Chinese players.

Zhao's return to the big stage marked the same tournament in which he made his breakthrough in November last year. Before his ban, he quickly became a fan favorite due to his extravagant play style, wild, long pension product and incredible ability with a keyword. But the match fixing scandal left a black brand according to its name.

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The top-class Saga devoured Snooker in early 2023 when 10 Chinese players were charged with different match-fixing degrees, and ultimately Liang Wenbo and Li Hang were banished for life from sport. The behavior of former World No. 11 Liang was classified as “particularly shameful” by the WPBSA disciplinary commission, which carried out the hearing.

The two biggest names that were included in the scandal were Masters Champion Yan Bingtao in 2021, which currently banned a five-year ban until December 2027, and Zhao, who at the beginning of his suspension, took a ninth place when his suspension had added the title of the German Masters 2022 to his shock-UK championship crown.

It is worth repeating that Zhao did not repair any games -so his punishment was at the milder end of the scale -but he was found guilty of participating in another player who repaired two games and bet on snooker matches. He saw a 30-month suspension to 20 months after early approvals and his guilty plea, but there are those within the sport who wanted to see harder punishments for each individual player.

The ban from Zhao was departed in September 2024 and has been playing on the amateur -q tour since then, where he won tournaments in Manchester, Sweden, Austria and Belgium while taking two 147 breaks in the process -the first player who has ever done a maximum on this race track. That brought him the full game rights for the next season, which begins over the summer, which means that his amateur status does not take long.

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His success of the Q Tour also brought him an invitation to take part in the British championship qualification as an amateur. A hard-fought encounter ended 6: 5 in favor of the Englishman, with Zhao once again showing the threat that he could record his top comeback.

Before the tournament, Murphy had given a consideration of the return of the younger man to Snooker. “It must be said that Zhao Xintong was at the bottom of these bans, he was never accused of fraud, he was never accused of having solved games,” said the Masters Champion. “He knew about it and of course that is against the rules.

“I would say that it was very difficult for him.

If there had been a look at the defeat of the unhindered talent that Zhao still had, his run in Sheffield has so far shown why it has long been overturned for the tip.

He cut through four qualifications and made remarkable for 12 centuries when he cheung Ka Wai (10-3), Long Zehuang (10-8), Lyu Haotian (10-4) and Elliot Slessor (10-8) struck to achieve the certificate. There he lasted last year's finalist Jak Jones 10: 4 in his prelude, before he produced Lei Peifan 13-10 downing, Chris Wakelin 13-5 powdered and then produced this remarkable performance in the semi-finals against O'Sullivan.

Comparisons were made between the left and Jimmy White, which were more memorable in all six world championship finals. Now Zhao will have his own shot on Snooker's largest price.

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“I made a little mistake two years ago and now I come back, so I know how important snooker is for me,” said Zhao, after having hit Walden to seal his place at the British championship last year. “I would like to return to the Snooker table and get trophies. These are very large lessons for me, it makes me more appreciated that snookers.

“These two years are very long for me, I continue every day. I know that I have to come back, so I have to stay safe from myself. If I play well, I can win something. I practice and just have to come back. I know it is very difficult, but I think it made me stronger later.”

In 2021, Zhao started his career by transferring the future world champion Luca Brecel 10: 5 with John Higgins, Jack Lisowski and Barry Hawkins before defeating the future world champion Luca Brecel to announce his arrival under Snooker elite. Almost four years later, it would be an even greater achievement.