World Championship 2025: Mark Williams will use experience to stifle Zhao Xintong in Crucible final 'classic match-up' - Alan McManus

The World Championship final will be a fascinating clash between Mark Williams and Zhao Xintong. Alan McManus previewed the Crucible showpiece for TNT Sports and was of the opinion that Williams will look to use his experience to stifle the attacking threat of Zhao. Watch and stream top snooker action, including the World Championship, live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Zhao Xintong will face things he has never tackled before when he comes up against Mark Williams in the World Championship final, according to Alan McManus.

Zhao powered through the qualifiers and made similar strides at the Crucible.

He was expected to face a stern test against Ronnie O’Sullivan, but blew the seven-time world champion out of the water in the semi-finals.

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O’Sullivan’s fellow Class of 92 member Mark Williams awaits Zhao in the final, following his win over Judd Trump, and McManus feels the Welshman will draw on all his experience to combat the attacking instincts of the Chinese player.

"On paper, I am thinking it has the potential for anything you want," McManus said in the TNT Sports studio. "It is the classic match-up."

Zhao prefers an attacking game, but McManus believes Williams will set about stifling his play and drag him into a dogfight. 

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"Zhao will think he knows a lot about Mark, but he won’t know the half of it," McManus said. "He is going to find out things about this game of snooker of ours that he will have never faced before. 

"He will be put in positions for a 45-minute stretch, three or four frames in a row, where he is not going to see anything.

"He is going to have to think, ‘Where am I here, who is this guy?’ That’s what he will be dealing with."

McManus pointed to an interview Williams gave when he said he would look to use his nous to combat any challenge he faced from attacking players.

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"Mark is able to nullify," McManus said. "He said coming into the semi-finals, they can out-pot me, but I can outplay them. And he is dead right, he can outplay anybody."

McManus thinks Williams' match awareness will be a big asset over four sessions.

"Maybe in some ways he is the best snooker player of all time in terms of knowing where he is in a match," McManus said of Williams.

"He was 7-3 down and Judd is all over him, but there was no panic. To think like that when the pressure is on takes some doing."

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Watch and stream top snooker action, including the World Championship, live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+

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