Zhao Xintong claims historic maiden World Snooker Championship crown

Zhao Xintong became the first Asian player to win the World Snooker Championship as he defeated a valiant Mark Williams 18-12 in the final at The Crucible.

The Chinese sensation also created history by becoming the first amateur player to lift the world title and followed in the footsteps of Terry Griffiths (1979) and Shaun Murphy (2005) as only the third qualifier to claim the crown.

The triumph came just eight months after his return from a 20-month suspension for his involvement in snooker’s biggest match-fixing scandal along with nine of his compatriots.

The 2021 UK champion had won four qualifying matches to reach the main event – where he dismantled multiple World Champions Ronnie O’Sullivan and Williams en route to the £500,000 top prize.

“I can’t believe this,” Zhao told BBC Sport. “I can’t believe what I have done in this match. I’m very excited. Thank you.

“I have been so nervous. Mark is a top player and gave me so much pressure. He’s the best.

“I’m not tired. I will celebrate, maybe have a good drink tonight. I need to say thank you to everybody coming here. Thank you everybody.

“I think I am dreaming. Maybe it’s true. Thank you to my parents, manager Victoria and girlfriend, WST and CBSA academy.”

Zhao had romped into a 17-8 lead heading into the final session, leaving him just one frame from glory.

Williams, however, produced a magnificent late rally to reel off four frames in a row, but could only delay the inevitable as Zhao landed a clinical break of 87 to realise his destiny.

“I think it’s been a brilliant tournament for me,” said Williams, who had been bidding to become the sport’s oldest World Champion at 50.

“The support I’ve had from the crowd for the last two weeks has been unbelievable.

“What a potter he is. I’m glad I’ll be too old when he’s dominating the game. I’ve got nothing but admiration for what he’s done coming through the qualifiers.

“He bashed Ronnie up, bashed me up, bashed everybody up. What can you say? There’s a new superstar of the game.”

The damage was effectively done in the first session on Sunday as Zhao stormed into a 7-1 lead with breaks of 77, 100, 57, 104 and 83 along the way.

Williams hit back with breaks of 86 and 72 in the second session, but Zhao took his lead to 11-6 overnight thanks to breaks of 71, 56, 96 and 71.

The 28-year-old continued his dominance on Monday afternoon, winning six of the next eight frames to move to the cusp of victory.

Williams, though, refused to go down without a fight when they returned for the final instalment of the match, kicking off the evening session with a break of 101.

He then added breaks of 96 and 73 to make it four frames without reply and reduce the deficit to 17-12 at the mid-session interval.

Zhao, however, seized his first bona fide chance to seal the deal after the restart as he crashed in a quick-fire break of 87 to end Williams’ comeback hopes.

Having come into the tournament without an official ranking, Zhao will start the new season as world number 11.

The Sheffield-based star contested 172 frames in total during a marathon World Championship campaign which began at the qualifiers on April 8, winning 111 frames during nine matches and compiling 18 centuries.