Whether you like the ending or not, what a redemption story that is. Zhao Xintong, champion of the world – words we always expected to hear, though perhaps not in 2025. We’ll be hearing them plenty over the next decade or two, but for now, that’s another season in the books; it’s been a belter, likewise this tournament, as it always is. Thanks for your company and comments, sorry i couldn’t use them all; well done Zhao Xintong, and peace out; any idea what on earth we do tomorrow?
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“People nobody dislikes” says Tom Atkins. “REM? I once listened to a podcast where they had a guest who claimed to hate 'Nightswimming but I could tell his heart wasn’t really in it.”
I love REM, my first favourite band, but I don’t love Nightswimming. I do, though, know someone who doesn’t like them; naturally, i shun him.
Slowly, he lifts it shoulder-high, then gives it a little kiss. You can tell he’s imagined this moment because he’s so measured; you can’t be that good without knowing you’re that good, and the rest of the tour should look out.
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Mark collects his runners-up medal and cheque, to rapturous reception. Now here comes Zhao Xintong to collect the trophy…
Haze has learnt the Mandarin for congrats – that’s nice. “I can’t believe that,” says Zhao of his achievement. “I can’t believe what I do … I’m very exciting, thanks you.”
“I’m so nervous tonight,” he says, talking about the pressure Mark put him under. “Yeah, he is the best.”
Told he’s been playing for 29 days, he’s asked hoew tired he is; “Nah, I’m not tired,” he says. And how will he celebrate? “Have a good drink tonight”; the crowd cheer.
Finally, Haze asks him about winning the biggun so soon after coming back, and he explains that’s why he can’t believe it. He feels like he’s dreaming.
Oh, not finally: here comes the question that might make him greet, about his mum and dad watching in Xi An, along with 150 million others. What’s his message for them? “Thank you,” also to his girlfriend, his coach, World Snooker, and the academy at which he practises.
He knows he was born to do this, and I’d be absolutely staggered were he not to do it again, more than once.
“It’s been a brilliant tournament for me,” says Mark, thanking the crowd for their support. “But what a potter he is over there,” he says, adding that he’s come through the qualifiers, “bashed me up, bashed everyone up … There’s a new superstar of the game, he’s over there.”
Haze, though, isn’t letting him off the hook with that. She tells Mark he’s in the top 16 as per his ambition at 50 – he’s there at no 3. “Tell you what, let’s see where I am in the rankings at 6o, is it?” he says.
He’s booked in for laser eye surgery, he reminds us, but he’s playing well enough to rethink; “one more question “, says Hazel Columbine, and here it comes:
“There were tears in your eyes when you walked down the stairs tonight. Tell me about the ovation that you had from everyone in this room for yuour achievements. how much did it touch you"?” And of course she tosses in mentions of his mates Ray Reardon and Terry Griffiths, no longer with us; he’s not having it.
Zhao is so calm it’s incredible. He smiles, but he knew that one day this’d be his and he knew that today it’d be his. He drapes himself in the China flag, now here’s Haze to make Mark cry.
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Zhao Xintong beats Mark J Williams 18-12! He is the 2025 world champion, the first Asian to claim that honour!
Did you feel that tremor? 1.4 billion perople are buzzing off Zhao Xintong, the champion of the world! Well done, old mate, well done.
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Williams 12-17 Zhao (8-72) Zhao makes it safe. He is the world champion, and how he’s earnt it. He’s been wonderful from start to finish, his joyous, bouncing snooker compelling and affirming. This is just the start.
Williams 12-17 Zhao (8-63) Everything Zhao’s ever done, every minute of practise, every sacrifice made, every punishment endured, has been in order to reach this moment. Real talk, he’s a superstar who, even if he somehow succumbs from here, will win one of these one day, but that won’t be on his mind now. This is the thing, the only thing, and he’s two pots away from being champion of the world! What a performance this has been; what a performance this is.
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Williams 12-17 Zhao (8-24) A red dropped to left corner, via rest, and he’s on to the black … buy oh Mark. Oh maaaate! He misses the pot and will he get back to the table? Maximum concentration time for Zhao; history is tantalising him, the gallery of the immortals within reach. Can he hold it down? I’m bricking it from 200 miles away.
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Williams 12-17 Zhao (1-23) A pink faded to middle, it hits the near jaw … and because he’s played it dead slowly, it drops. But every shot, he’s chasing, and we know that when that happens, a miss tends to eventuate; a lovely blue looks to have him in prime position, but the white's final roll means he’s a little hampered. No matter, he sends the next ball down anyroad up, but a poor positional shot on the pink means a red to the green bag, at pace … and he doesn’t get all that close. Chance for Mark!
Williams 12-17 Zhao (0-1) Zhao catches the jaws of left corner seeking a route back to baulk and does well to leave nothing; next go, he tries for a plant – confidently, given he opens the pack and leaves the white shy of the line – but can Mark snick to right corner? He cannot, and this is Zhao’s first proper chance to get this won.
Off we go again…
Mid-sesh email: Bob Adamson returns to defend his honour, after which we’ll knock this riff on head: “George Neal is partially correct in my experience. Of course, I am generalising about a country of 1.4 million people and variations in practice do exist. People I know who have been friends for decades still call each other by their full name, e.g. ‘Han Meimei, or ‘Lao Han’ (‘Old Han’). They don’t use ‘Meimei’ on its own, although family members and some friends would. As a teacher, Han Meimei would also be called ‘Han Laoshi’ (Teacher Han) in formal settings.
What a joy that mini-session was. Much as I’m excited to see Zhao win, I don’t need to see Mark get clattered like it’s nothing. But beyond that, watching him play is always a pleasure, and given he’s now 50, we need to take especial care to enjoy it as much as we possibly can. An easy task, but still one incumbent upon us.
Williams 12-17 Zhao A missed red means no ton, but the champion that is Mark J Williams peels off four frames in under an hour; you never know! See you in 15…
Williams 11-17 Zhao (66-0) Can Mark get by the pink to the next red? Yes he can, the crowd whooping their appreciation, before a red with the rest … and again, it’s dispatched with relaxed alacrity. A green cut to middle is next … and it’s there … meaning red to corner for the frame, and down it goes! Four frames on the spin for the old master, who is refusing to sit down, nailing a vintage double to make double-sure!
Williams 11-17 Zhao (38-0) …and it’s there, but which colour will he go after? He selects blue, shoved to left corner from close to it, and this is already a really good break, so many nasty shots navigated with typical equilibrium. This is joyous to behold, a genius that cannot be constrained by nonsense like the score.
“Don’t know what did for a 20-month ban but why isn’t it for life, if bad enough.”
Scroll down to find out!
Williams 11-17 Zhao (25-0) Further excellence from Mark, who opens the pack and is on one. But he’s hampered by the pink, so has a look at a plant before returning to the original ball, then picking a third, to be addressed via the rest. One good pot and the frame should be his…
Williams 11-17 Zhao (6-0) Is Mark’s improved form having an impact? Zhao refuses a pot that’s easier than others he’s taken on tonight then Mark has a go at a long one to right corner, rattles the jaws, and the ball zips along the top cushion to pot a different red! In the afternoon, those were all going the other way and Zhao made sure to take advantage – as Mark must now. For this session, he’s at 96% pot-success.
Williams 11-17 Zhao A missed pink to the green bag means no ton, but that’s three out of three for Mark tonight, and he needs one more for mini-sesh sweep.
Williams 10-17 Zhao (96-6) There aren’t many it’s more enjoyable to watch that Mark, whose unique creativity and demeanour fulfil that impossible brief of appealing to everyone. I previously tried to think if there’s anything in the world that no one dislikes and came up with Fleetwood Mac, but Mark J Williams might just be another. Any more for any more?
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Williams 10-17 Zhao (51-6) Mark removes balls like he’s been doing it all his life. You’ve got admire his refusal to simply accept defeat, and he’ll be smarting he couldn’t find this level yesterday – though we do have to say that game-state has lots to do with what we’re seeing here.
Williams 10-17 Zhao (36-6) Off a red with the resrt, Mark stuns across the face of the table for the black, lovely shot, and this should be another one back.
Williams 10-17 Zhao (19-6) Two reds removed and the black goes to both corners; there are plenty of reds now loose too. There’s every chance this is a third frame on the spin for Mark.
Williams 10-17 Zhao (1-6) Mark refuses a long red… only to attack a double. But the red pops back out of the bag like it’s on Stay Alive, but has he left one? Just about, a tight cut to the green bag which Zhao might refuse in different circumstances, but not with a world title there to win. He pots it well too, adds a nasty blue … then misses the next ball to right xorner. What can Mark make of what he’s been left?
“The thing you have posted about Chinese people not calling him ‘Xintong’ is out and out tripe, reckons George Neal. “That’s his name, of course people call him that. The only time you’d call someone by their surname is if they are a doctor, teacher, etc.”
Liveblogger?
Williams 10-17 Zhao He’ll need another three or four to get Zhao feeling anything, but it’s great to see a legend of the game refusing to get battered.
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Williams 9-17 Zhao (62-1) Mark secures another frame. Zhao does not looked mithered.
Williams 9-17 Zhao (50-1) Mark opens reds but lands on nowt – the balls haven’t run for him today – so it’s back to baulk. And, with few if any safety shots available, Zhao is pushed into taking on a pot, looking to snap the top-most red from middle to right corner; again he doesn’t just pot it, he clobbers it into the leather. He can’t though, add the green, so Mark floats another nice one to corner, and from here, he should clinch another frame back. As I type, though, he lands the wrong side of the blue, so punches it to middle, travels in and out of baulk … and he’s nicely on the next ball That disappears too, but from here, things become more difficult.
Williams 9-17 Zhao (24-0) Mark sizes up a longun off Zhao’s break … and smokes a beauty into right corner! His second red looks bound for the top jaw of middle, but I think he’s played it slowly enough so that it’ll drop ... and it does. The crowd love it, obviously – they love Mark, who is lovable, but they also love snook and what to see as much of it as they can. Meantime, a blue clobbered to middle takes him down and up the table, he rattles the pack but is he on one? Er, not really, but can he manufacture a potting angle by raising the butt of the cue and jabbing down on one? Of course he can. He’s in!
Williams 9-17 Zhao Typically davkanik defiance from Mark: a 101 ands the frame. Then, during the break, Hazel notes he looked emotional: stand by for her to ask him as many questions as necessary to get him greeting once this is all over.
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Williams 8-17 Zhao (74-30) A blue leaves Zhao needing a snooker and a red, gently snicked across the nap to left-centre, makes sure of the frame. Can Mark parlay run into ton?
Williams 8-17 Zhao (47-30) Mark removes all remaining reds from the business end, then repairs back to baulk to sort the remaining three. He’s taking them nicely, though there were no demons at the outset.
Williams 8-17 Zhao (26-30) Mark closes the gap, and there are no difficult balls; this should be one frame back
Williams 8-17 Zhao (1-30) With the white left above the black, our players begin sending reds to baulk, and when Zhao chances one to middle – “a 17-8 shot,” muses JV – he doesn’t get close, leaving a chance for Mark.
“The boy is my absolute hero,” says Geoffrey Brooking of Zhao. “I knew all about him four weeks ago when the qualifying started. He ran riot on the amateur tour and 25/1 was just massive. It’s the best £200 bet in my life. I told Fouldsy on day one it was a cracking bet and it’s proven so.”
Big G is getting them in!
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Williams 8-17 Zhao (0-30) No he couldn’t: it’s soon down for blue, and this is shaping up into a quick kill, a nice little kiss liberating a red … but he can’t snick home the cut-back. He does, though, get cover on the ball he missed from the black, so all Mark can do is play safe.
Williams 8-17 Zhao (0-16) Immediately, Zhao goes hard at a longun to right corner; the ball leaps out of the jaws, and there’s nothing left on. So Mark plays safe, leaves one to the same bag … and this time it’s beautifully slotted. A black follows, then a red, then a black, and he … he couldn’t, could he?
And away we go!
For the final time, our boyz baize, and what a welcome they give Mark J, who looks moved by it. What a player, what a competitor, what a man.
I didn’t set that up as a plug, I promise. But seeing as we’re here:
I wonder if the comparator from my lifetime is with Paul Gascogine, who became the most famous man in England after crying at the 1990 World Cup. I hope Zhao has good family and friends around him, and an agent prepared to say no to stuff if it doesn’t best serve the full 360 of his man’s needs.
It’s hard to quantify the size of what’s probably about to happen. Partly because it’s never happened before, the paradox being that it’s precisely it never having happened before that makes it so seismic. James Wattana first played at the Cruce in 1992, and it’s taken from then until – perhaps – now, for an Asian player to win this event. I can only imagine the scenes in China, and I have no frame of reference to imagine the impact it’ll have on the life of Zhao Xintong.
During the break, more on the Chinese name situation. Here’s Bob Adamson: “Using a Chinese surname is a friendly form of address. ‘Zhao’ is perfectly acceptable for friends and acquaintances, ‘Xiao/Lao Zhao’ (‘Young/Old Zhao’) even more so. ‘Xintong’ on its own is very intimate, and would tend to be used by family and very close friends only.”
We go again! Can Mark pull off a wonder of wonder and miracle of miracles?
That, then is us done for the afternoon. Join me again at 6.30pm BST to share in history.
Zhao’s not playing all that well, but he’s playing more than well enough to hand an exhausted Mark a tousing. Earlier, we wondered if he’d get nervous at the life-changing aspect of all this, but it’s never been close enough for that. At some point this evening, he’ll surely lift the trophy and become the first amateur so to do – an incredible achievement that won’t be his last.
Williams 8-17 Xintong AND IT’S THERE! ZHAO XINTONG NEEDS ONE FRAME THIS EVENING – ONE! – TO BECOME OUR FIRST ASIAN WORLD CHAMPION!
Williams 8-16 Xintong (36-54) Brown to the yellow bag for the frame...
Williams 8-16 Xintong (36-44) Mark doesn’t get on to the penultimate red quite as planned, but should still pot it … except he leaves it on the lip! Chance for Zhao to go one away! The balls are the for him and so is the trophy!
Williams 8-16 Xintong (25-37) Mark goes at a longun to the green bag and can’t sink it, but the ball he slots to left-centre shortly afterwards is just as good. The way the table is, he’s a decent chance of snaffling the frame at this visit.
Williams 8-16 Xintong (5-37) Zhao opts to go at a long diag to left corner … and pumps home a beauty! It’s noteworthy how often he hits the middle of the bag, his meld of flair and precision so unusual. A poor red, though, means end of break, and again there’s nothing easy available; the snooker gods appear to have anointed him the winner. All the more so when Mark can’t drain a speculative one to right corner … though nor can Zhao tidy. I didn’t think he’d miss that – I bet he didn’t either – and he leaves another opportunity.
Williams 8-16 Xintong (0-11) Cueing over the black, which is just off the side, Zhao refuses a taxing pink, playing back to baulk and hiding white behind green and blue. As the old adage says, never give a genius an even break, but also, he seems to have learnt from the extravagance which has cost him a couple of frames this afternoon.
Williams 8-16 Xintong (0-11) This is the final frame of the session and, as long as Zhao needs two to win, Mark will feel he’s the smallest semblance of a chance. Eeesh, but he immediately leaves a starter, only for Zhao to miss a black off its spot. Again, though, the balls run for him; we’re back playing safety … for the 30 seconds or so it takes for him to glance a delicious cut into left corner. If his split works well, he’ll have a chance to win the frame at this visit.
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Williams 8-16 Xintong Zhao tries a one-handed pink which doesn’t drop, and we see a shot of Mark watching an opponent play exhibition shots; he doesn’t look full of joy.
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Williams 8-15 Xintong (26-70) Zhao gets behind frame-ball red, but does he take it to left corner or left-centre? Either way, it’s not easy; he picks the former, it’s headed for the jaw but slowly … and for that reason, it drops. Zhao will need a a maximum of two frames tonight.
Williams 8-15 Xintong (26-60) A red to left corner, into the top rail, and into a red which liberates the black. This good stuff from Zhao; the only impediment to his restoring an eight-frame advantage is the red on black cush … which he slots as I type.
Williams 8-15 Xintong (26-30) Zhao soon runs out of position so plays safe; Mark looks to roll from just above the baulk cushion to middle and not only misses, but thanks to a kiss, he leaves a sitter. So Zhao gets away then quickly nudges pack off blue, and though pink and black are occupied, the way the balls are, there’s scope to do the necessary with red-blues.
Williams 8-15 Xintong (26-11) A tremendous blue to the green bag keeps Mark at the table – there was pressure there because he was leaving plenty if he misses … and he can’t despatch the next ball! He’s just not been able to pot well enough for long enough to inconvenience Zhao, who will now seek to move within two frames of victory.
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Williams 8-15 Xintong (15-0) Another liberty from Zhao, reckons Shaun, going at a long one and looking to develop the black; he misses and Mark will again seek to punish.
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Williams 8-15 Xintong A reminder for Zhao: don’t take the game for granted.
Williams 7-15 Xintong (62-10) Mark secures the frame and, in the process, some semblance of evening session.
Williams 7-15 Xintong (46-14) In comms, they’re marvelling at Zhao’s route to this point, four qualifying rounds then five matches here; in the former, he won 10-8 twice, while in Sheffield, Lei Peifan lost 10-7. Meantime, he goes at a long one to left corner and misses; in comms, Shaun notes that the way he played the shot, crashing into the black, advises Mark that his opponent doesn’t think he can win. Might that spur him into something?
Williams 7-15 Xintong (18-10) “After Lennox Lewis obliterated the hugely dangerous Razor Ruddock in the biggest fight of his life to that point,” begins Gregory Phillips, “Ian Darke remarked on Sky that Lewis looked ‘as if he’d just come back from doing a bit of shopping down at the supermarket, instead of getting a fight for the heavyweight championship.’ Zhao has that same implacable air.”
Oh man, I love that fight. No one had any inkling Lewis would finish it so early, and what a shame we didn’t see him fight Riddick Bowe immediately thereafter. What Zhao reminds me of, though, is a Roy Keane line after Real Madrid won the Champions Leaguer in 2000. He said something like Raúl didn’t bother crying rorgoing wild, he demeanour was more akin to someone who believed that this was his due and what he expected of himself, then made sure to achieve.
Anyroad, back on the table, Mark misses but so does Zhao, so we’re back playing safety … then The Cyclone gets in again.A nice black to left corner, a red and into the pack, and this is another frame-winning opportunity. We’re witnessing greatness right here and right now.
Williams 7-15 Xintong (17-0) Eeeeesh, Mark goes at a starter, misses … and somehow Zhao can’t sink his tidy-up into the yellow bag. And, though the ball at which he went runs safe, there’s another available to right corner … and it’s there! Excellent pot, but can Mark parlay it into something telling? Er, no, he cannot. An infelicitous cannon means end of break … no it doesn’t! He lashes blue into the yellow bag, and this is a chance to ensure we return for the evening sesh.
Williams 7-15 Xintong Zhao pots all the balls. Mates, we are witnessing greatness.
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Williams 7-14 Xintong (1-57) A poor shot from Mark allows Zhao to get away again, green to middle makes sure of the frame, and this is, I’m afraid, an absolute hosing. The score – and the talent – gives us cause to think the performance is on a par with Judd Trump’s in beating John Higgins 18-9 in 2019, but that’s not the case; Trump’s was way better. But in a sense that’s even more incredible: he’s clobbering a great of the game without even hitting his top level or close to it.
Williams 7-14 Xintong (1-52) Zhao gets in again, pumps blue into the jaws of left-centre … and it zips across the table, dropping into right. This game! Mark will be feeling it’s not his day and rightly so, but with 59 points left, Zhao runs out of position so plays safe … ish.
Williams 7-14 Xintong (1-42) Screwing back off a red, the white is headed to the middle pocket … it hits the far jaw … and somehow stays out. Again, when it’s your fortnight, it’s your fortnight. But what’s this?! A red that hits the far jaw and stays on the lip! Can Mark capitalise and get to within a mere six? He cannot, unable to sink the black, and at this point, the sense is that even if Zhao hands him chances, he doesn’t have enough left to take them.
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Williams 7-14 Xintong (0-23) Zhao leaves breaking the pack to the last possible moment, ruffling it off the black; in comms, Shaun felt he should’ve gone when he had an insurance red in play. All he’s got is a longun to the yellow bag … he misses … but so does Mark to middle. This allows a starter to right-middle the, from other side, a yellow to the same hole. Already, the advantage is growing, and with various reds loose, this could well be another frame closer to the trophy.
Williams 7-14 Xintong (0-23) Mark’s break leaves longun to right corner and Zhao cues nicely to smack it into the hole. But is he on a colour? Er, just, bridging awkwardly from near the pink to cut the green; he misses, it hits the side, kisses the white … and drops into right-centre. When it’s your fortnight, it’s your fortnight, and I’m afraid Mark, a long-time favourite of this blog, is no longer fighting for the title but to avoid a serious beating.
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Back come our players. What does Mark have left?
Williams 7-14 Xintong Zhao isn’t even playing that well, but he’s playing better than Mark, who knows it’s did. When the players come back after after the interval, if he wins all four frames he’ll be China’s first world champion. The thought doesn’t seem to be affecting him in any way, positive or negative.
Williams 7-13 Xintong (45-58) Zhao floats up the table off the blue … and his position is perfect, just above the rail. He slots it nicely, and again, I’m afraid this contest is over.
Williams 7-13 Xintong (45-50) A cut-back down the side to right corner … stays out. Zhao gets cover off the pink, around which mark can easily swerve … but he gives it too much, the white drops too, and he leaves a free ball. If Zhao sinks that cushioned red and gets on to a colour, this frame is his.
Williams 7-13 Xintong (45-20) A mishit from Mark leaves white next to blue; Zhao sends it down but an unpleasant kiss means a tricky shot to get on to his second red, which he plays nicely. A poor shot, though, sees him kiss green off blue, and frustrated, he unloads the suitcase at a long pot, gets nowhere nears, and somehow leaves the white near the yellow bag. So Mark goes at a longun to right corner, it stays out … and Zhao gets away. This is now a chance for a 3-1 mini-sesh and a seven-frame lead. Sat in his way is a red in the middle of black cish and not much else.
Williams 7-13 Xintong (45-0) Mark bins those loose reds, but can he forces his way into the pack off the brown? Ear, not really. He clunks the side, liberates only one red, and a poor safety allows Zhao a dart at a cut to corner; it stays out.
Williams 7-13 Xintong (11-0) Zhao goes at one to left-centre, hitting the far jaw; Mark cuts superbly into right-corner, and there are loose balls there for him. And remember, he’s playing here to share the first mini-sesh – not the kind of result that will give his opponent pause – though if he’s successful in so doing, he’ll guarantee us some kind of evening dig.
Williams 7-13 Xintong Mark fouls, concedes, and might regret that attacking safety. In fairness, though, that was a fantastic break from Zhao.
Williams 7-12 Xintong (7-58) Zhao keeps the run going with long and mid-ragne pots that are barely believable – the power with which he hits the middle of the middle is uncanny and borderline spooky. And, as I type, he lines up frame-ball, a long cut-back down the side. “Oh stop it! Stop it!” kvells JV. “The game’s not meant to be that easy!” He then plays safe with Mark needing two four-point snookers to tie, assuming he takes blacks with the two remaining reds.
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Williams 7-12 Xintong (7-30) Zhao opens reds off the blue, he’s on an easy one, and from here should secure the frame. Of course, he might get nervous, but we’ve seen nothing from him to suggest that’s likely – we’re extrapolating from the weaknesses shown by others.
Williams 7-12 Xintong (7-11) Mark sinks a long starter but doesn’t get the screw he needs to finish top-side of the blue. That means he can’t use it to break the pack, and it’s soon end of break; Zhao then goes at skinny one to left corner, and when it goes down, he has a chance to exploit the attacking safety shot Mark played immediately prior.
“Since the start of the second session, Mark Williams has turned this into exactly the kind of match he needs it to be,” says Gregory Phillips. “Unfortunately he was already in a six-frame hole. I think it will continue to be nip and tuck all day today, and I just don’t see him digging out. He’s up against the one player who seems to be unflappable as he is.”
I agree. Zhao is too good and too calm to toss that lead against a player more likely to pinch frames than hit a devastating seam that sees him peel off six on the spin.
Williams 7-12 Xintong A poor frame from both men; is it the start of something?
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Williams 6-12 Xintong (66-18) Mark plays safe with the frame almost safe, then Zhao leaves him frame-ball over the right-corner bag; he steers it home, adds a nice cut-back black, and that’s that sorted.
Williams 6-12 Xintong (42-18) If you’d just looked at the score, you’d have assumed Zhao played lights-out yesterday, but he didn’t. He wasn’t especially close to the level we’ve seen from him, earlier in the tournament and prior to; rather, he just made sure to cash in when in stroke, which tells us plenty about how damn good he is. From here, though, Mark should restore the five-frame deficit.
Williams 6-12 Xintong (27-18) Oh whaaaat?! A close-range diagonal slot to left-middle, Mark walking around the table to play the next ball … except he’s missed the pot! I don’t suppose it should surprise us that, after the monumental effort it took to beat Higgins and Trump, a 50-year-old is flagging, but this isn’t your regular individual. Meantime, though, another error from Zhao offers another opportunity.
Williams 6-12 Xintong (16-11) Mark goes hard at a red and misses; Zhao surprisingly undercuts to middle. So TWPM nails a starter, then sneaks in tight between brown and baulk cushion; the escape hits the black and leaves a horrible cut-back; Mark has a look, then has the balls replaced. Which I understand, but I bet he’s regretting the call when Zhao, having had one try, his easily second go. All the more so when he’s left a pot to right corner … except he misses, allowing Mark a chance to score.
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Williams 6-12 Xintong (7-11) A miss from Zhao allows Mark to get going, but seeking to break pack off blue, he dials down the power and slides off the side of it; end of break. Then, from the baulk rail, Zhao goes at one in mid-table, tickling it towards left corner … and in! But he’s soon forced to play safe, and these down-in-the-weeds frames are the kind that Mark must win, except he must win almost every frame of any description.
“Williams really needs to win the session, and already he’s up against it,” says Simon McMahon. “14-11 gives him a fighting chance this evening, but 15-10, or worse, and it’s hard to see how he can win. His chances right now are somewhere between slim and none I reckon, as Zhao doesn’t look in any sort of mood to ease towards the finish line.”
I agree. I said after the first session that I thought it was over, and nowt I’ve seen since has changed that opinion. It’s a matter of when, not if – much as I’m desperate for a classic, as we all are.
Williams 6-12 Xintong Zhao is six frames away; there are seven to play in this sesh.
Williams 6-11 Xintong (5-65) Zhao secures the frame, then makes double-sure with a red sent to left corner via rest. Meantime, Sean Clayton emails thusly: “From a Sheffieldist perspective, would a Zhou win be good news, bad news or neutral for the World Championship’s future at the Crucible?
I’m veering between options 2 and 3 but I’m sadly struggling to see a path to a long-term Crucible future, esp. given the Hearns’ recent comments...Zhao secures the frame, then makes double-sure with a cut to left corner via rest. Meantime, Sean Clayton emails thusly: “From a Sheffieldist perspective, would a Zhou win be good news, bad news or neutral for the World Championship’s future at the Crucible. I’m veering between options 2 and 3 but I’m sadly struggling to see a path to a long-term Crucible future, esp. given the Hearns’ recent comments...”
Barry would, ideally, like to stay at the Cruce, but I don’t know what the ask is to know whether it’s any way feasible, or part of a process that enables him to say well, we tried. I don’t think Zhou winning will matter because I doubt the competition moves to China given time differences. The Middle East, though, can’t be ruled out.
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Williams 6-11 Xintong (5-51) Zhao is, for mine, the best pack-cracker in the world, and if that shot works out well, the frame should be his. Oh, but he hits the wrong ball, so it’s back to baulk, just above the rail, with most of the table blocked off. Ohhhh, but Mark J Williams! He finds a plant, snaps it down, manages to force home the yellow and he’s away. Until he misses blue, to middle, and by a way! At 11-6 down, you can’t be doing that, and from here, Zhao should extend his advantage.
Williams 6-11 Xintong (0-23) Before we get going, I know that Zhao’s first name is Xintong; that Chinese names give the surname first. But in snooker, for whatever reason, we refer to our Chinese players as though their surname is their first name – we’ve been watching Ding for two decades now, and never called him “Junhui”. Anyroad a(nother) poor break from Mark allows Zhao to drive home a starter – he has the resting heart rate of a corpse – and quickly builds.
Email! “It’s worth looking at the full report of the disciplinary commission,” writes Andrew Goudie. “It makes the point (in paragraph 274) that Zhao was the only one of the 10 players involved who did not himself fix any match, and that he has shown genuine remorse for his actions.”
I’ll bet he did. But yup, I’ve read it, which is one reason I’m advocating for clemency.
And here comes Mark J. He knows what he’s up against; he knows it’s probably gone. But he knew that about his career in 2018, only to return at his wfie’s behest and win this competition. Here we go!
Zhao exercises his neck like a fighter about to make his ring-walk. If he wins today, being him will never be the same again. Can he ascend to the ranks of the immortals?
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So how does he do it? He’ll need to start well, of course – he needs two frames to make sure we get an evening sesh, something of which we’re reminded by the presence of John Parrott, beaten 18-3 by Steve Davis in 1989. But otherwise, his long-potting will need to be of 2000-standard, he’ll need to stop missing easy balls when in, and he’ll need Zhao to feel the weight of the 1.411 billion people waiting to see if he can bring the trophy home to China.
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that there are two players in this final and our preamble mentions only one. That’s partly because we needed to chat about Zhao and only Zhao before moving on, and partly because what happens today is up to him.
Mark J Williams, already a three-time world champ and now seeking to become the oldest person ever to lift the little lady, is a genius. But for him to win 12 frames before Zhao wins seven, he’ll need a lot of help from his opponent. No one has ever overturned so deep a deficit, but no one has ever been Mark J Williams – apart from Mark J Williams.
Preamble
There’s a simple reason we’re all here today: love. We love the snook, we love the Cruce, we love the cliches and we love all the little bits and pieces. How is it, say, that on every day of every tournament, the incomparably knowledgeable Crucible audience also comprises the most mirthful people in the world? Does Rob Walker go on like that all the time, even, er, to Mrs Walker? Will Hazel manage to make anyone cry in interview?
So when someone threatens all of that – and much as we’d prefer not to – we’re well within our rights to feel a way about them. And that, I’m afraid, is the case with Zhao Xintong, poised to become China’s first world champion but also recently returned from a 20-month ban for his involvement in match-fixing.
On the face of things, it’s not easy to reconcile. If we consider how much we love snooker, imagine how much Zhao loves it – the love it takes to work hard enough to become one of the best players in the world, winner of a triple crown event at 24; to hone a flowing, thrilling, unique style suffused with joy; to see your life change for the better because of it. How could anyone risk all of that – while risking the essential integrity of our sport – for a few quid?
To understand how what happened could happen, we need to take ourselves back to the pandemic. Zhao, like all but one of the accused, was living in Sheffield; he was young, a long way from home; and then lockdown happened. During this period, Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, now banned for life, used their influence as respected elders to prevail upon younger players – who were isolated, homesick and in some cases short of money – to fall in with their plan to make money through betting. They were all caught, and here we are.
No one wants to be talking about this today. To watch Zhao play is to celebrate the game itself; he is its present and its future, armed with all the qualities he needs to share it with new people and places, while rejuvenating old ones. If he wins this final, that will happen.
We could, of course, say he was old enough to know better and that he’s lucky to be back playing; we’d probably be right. But we could also look back to our own youth, consider all the stupid stuff we did, and through the complex but essential process of forgiving ourselves, grant others the same clemency. We can’t ignore what went on, but we can be sure Zhao will carry the shame and regret for as long as he’s around, decide that’s punishment enough, and be happy that he’s been offered another opportunity to glorify the thing that brought us all here to begin with. Because having considered how much he loved snooker before, can we even imagine how much he loves it now?
Start: 1pm BST
