World Championship 2025: Zhao Xintong sinks Mark Williams in devastating style to become first Chinese player to win Crucible title

Zhao Xintong will be the pride of a nation after completing victory over Mark Williams in the Crucible final to become the first Chinese player to win the World Championship. He was totally dominant and got the deal done early in the fourth session on Monday evening. Watch and stream top snooker action, including the World Championship, live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+

In a breathtaking display of snooker, Zhao Xintong became the toast of China when beating Mark Williams to become the first player from the Asian nation to win the World Championship.

Snooker has taken off in China on the back of the exploits of Ding Junhui, who was a beaten Crucible finalist in 2016 and multiple Triple Crown winner.

A conveyor belt of top-class talent has emerged from China, with Zhao at the forefront of the charge.

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He beat professionals in his early teenage years and lifted the UK Championship in 2021, but was later suspended for his part in a match-fixing scandal.

His ban ended in the autumn of last year, and after cutting a swathe through the Q Tour, he qualified for the World Championship on the back of 12 centuries at the English Institute for Sport in Sheffield.

The rest, as they say, is history, as he stunned Williams 18-12 to pick up the biggest prize in the sport.

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The damage was done in session one, which Zhao took 7-1. He fended off a Williams charge on Sunday evening, moved through the gears on Monday afternoon and sealed the deal later in the evening.

For the umpteenth time in the tournament, Zhao stroked in a glorious long red and dropped perfectly on the black. He ran out of position with his break on 30, and after pushing the boat out with a tough red to the right middle, Williams picked off his first century of the match to take the first frame of the evening.

'Excellent for the crowd' - Williams makes his 87th Crucible century to keep final with Zhao alive

Video credit: TNT Sports

There was a huge roar from the crowd in the 27th frame when Williams picked off a red to get underway. It did not amount to a frame-winning chance, but another came his way when Zhao missed a tough green and he picked off the frame to get himself to double figures.

Sitting on a big lead, Zhao had no interest in turning pots down. He took on a difficult cut back to the left corner in the 28th frame and it did not drop, which handed Williams a chance. He raced through a break of 96 to make it three on the spin.

Williams took the match to the final interval with a jaw-droppingly good break of 73, albeit he was aided by an outrageous fluke to get going, as he won his fourth frame on the spin for the first time in the match.

'The roar when it went in' - Williams gets huge slice of luck with fluke on a red against Zhao

Video credit: TNT Sports

Zhao got more familiar with his chair than he had at any other stage in the match during Williams’ barrage.

He got a chance in the frame after the interval but missed a red to the green pocket by a distance. A second chance came to him when Williams missed a red with the rest, and he leapt from his chair like a gazelle.

The second bite of the cherry proved extremely sweet for Zhao as he picked off 87 to become a world champion.

The headlines will all be about Zhao, and he was by some margin the best player over the 17 days having comfortably beaten Jak Jones, Lei Peifan, Chris Wakelin and Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach the final, but Williams emerges from the tournament with his reputation enhanced.

Williams, who is set to undergo eye surgery next month, beat John Higgins and Judd Trump to reach the final, 25 years on from the first of his three Crucible titles.

The Welshman said he could not get to grips with the power of his opponent, but showed that there was still life in a man who celebrated his 50th birthday in March.

Williams produces superb escape from a snooker against Zhao

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Class of 92 of Williams, Higgins and O'Sullivan may still have plenty of mileage in them, but a new generation headed by Zhao will be snapping at their heels.

Victory pocketed Zhao £500,000 and made him the first amateur to win the title, and the third qualifier to triumph at the Crucible after Shaun Murphy in 2005 and Terry Griffiths in 1979.

Per World Snooker, victory meant Zhao would also rise to No. 11 in the world rankings for the start of next season.

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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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