How Zhao Xintong became Asia's first snooker world champion

When 28-year-old Zhao Xintong of China defeated 50-year-old Mark Williams of Wales to win the World Snooker Championship he was asked how long it took him to reach his current level. 

Zhao's answer? 20 years.

When Zhao picked up the cue at eight, his coach was quickly convinced of his talent, stating that Zhao might be the most accurate player in world for his age.

Zhao grew quickly as a player and within five years had finished runner-up at the Chinese national youth tournament. Later, in 2010, he claimed his first title at home in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province.

He became a professional player in 2016, and went through some difficult times because of his aggressive but inconsistent style. He was relegated twice, but managed back-to-back promotions on both occasions.

Zhao reached his first major career highlight in 2021 when he defeated John Higgins, Jack Lisowski, Barry Hawkins and then Luca Brecel in the final to win the UK Championship. One year later, he defeated Yan Bingtao in an all-Chinese decider at the German Masters, rising to world No. 9.

Unfortunately, Zhao suffered the biggest setback of his career in 2023 when he was suspended for 20 months due to a match-fixing scandal. He remained absent from all competitions during that period of time, yet Zhao believed that the suspension taught him to stay humble and made him realize what snooker really meant to him.

Zhao came back to the table in September 2024 and won three straight Q-Tour titles and qualification for the World Championship this year. He was unstoppable from the beginning at the Crucible Theater, beating Jak Jones, his compatriot Lei Peifan, Chris Wakelin, Ronnie O' Sullivan and in the end, Williams before lifting the trophy.