Zhao Xintong of China became Asia바카라s first world snooker champion after beating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final on Monday, completing a remarkable career turnaround following his involvement in the sport's biggest match-fixing scandal. (More Sports News)
Zhao captured the sport바카라s biggest prize 바카라 as well as a winner바카라s check of 500,000 pounds ($670,000) 바카라 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield just months after returning to competitive action following a 20-month ban.
The fixing scandal in 2023 involved 10 Chinese players in total and left snooker under a cloud, especially in China, the sport바카라s biggest market in the television landscape and a country that makes up more than 50% of snooker바카라s global audience.
Zhao is now the pride of China, winning the world championship while playing as an amateur 바카라 he바카라ll return to the professional ranks next season 바카라 and having come through four rounds of qualifiers just to get to the main draw at the Crucible.
바카라I think I had a dream,바카라 Zhao said. 바카라Maybe I바카라m not sure this is true.바카라
The 50-year-old Williams was bidding to become the oldest ever world champion as well as a four-time winner, but never recovered from trailing 7-1 after the first of the final바카라s four sessions across Sunday and Monday.
Zhao, a fearless, attacking left-hander, showed few nerves in a match which World Snooker Tour officials estimated was being watched by a potential audience of 150-200 million live streams in China and a cumulative audience of 50-150 million on China바카라s CCTV5.
Even after Williams won the first four frames of the last session to go from 17-8 to 17-12, Zhao stayed composed to compile a break of 87 in what proved to be the last frame, after which he unfurled the flag of China and hung it over his shoulders to the backdrop of applause.
바카라There바카라s a new superstar in the game,바카라 Williams said, looking at Zhao, 바카라and he바카라s over there.바카라
Zhao's turbulent career
When Zhao won the prestigious U.K. Championship 바카라 one of snooker's majors 바카라 in 2021, he looked ready to join the elite of the game. Even as a teenager, he was marked out by some top players, including Williams, as a potential future star.
However, his career was brought to a shuddering halt when, as part of a sprawling match-fixing scandal that rocked snooker in 2023, he was banned after accepting charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself. Zhao was ranked No. 9 in the world at the time.
Zhao has been free to play since his suspension expired in September and, in January, secured a return to snooker바카라s main professional tour for next season.
Given his talent, he was seen as a dangerous wild card in world championship qualifying and he breezed through that 바카라 and then the main tournament itself, even thrashing seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 17-7 in the semifinals.
Now he has beaten another veteran 바카라 and member of snooker's so-called 바카라Class of 92바카라 바카라 in Williams, who himself had looked good in beating four-time champion John Higgins in the quarterfinals and then top-ranked Judd Trump in the semifinals.
Chinese takeover
It was only a matter of time before a Chinese player won the worlds.
Only one, Ding Junhui, had previously reached the final at the Crucible and he lost to Mark Selby 18-14 in 2016.
Ding emerged as a snooker star about 20 years ago, when the sport first tried to spread to China, and is the trailblazer for a raft of his countrymen to have burst through, making snooker huge in their homeland.
According to the World Snooker Tour, there are around 300,000 snooker clubs in China. Snooker is available to watch in every TV household in China on CCTV5.
There are three snooker academies for Chinese players in Britain, one of them being in Sheffield 바카라 where Zhao is based.
A record 10 Chinese players reached the first round proper of the worlds this year and six of them made it through to the last 16.
Overseas winners
The sport has traditionally been dominated by British players but there have now been two overseas winners of the world championship in the past three years, after Belgium's Luca Brecel captured the title in 2023.
The only other non-British winner this century was Neil Robertson of Australia in 2010.
