Inside minutes of changing into China’s trailblazing world snooker champion, Zhao Xintong was draped in his nation’s flag as he began to absorb the enormity of his achievement.
Zhao defeated three-time winner Mark Williams 18-12 on Monday to turn out to be the primary Asian participant and novice to triumph on the Crucible.
Williams known as the 28-year-old a “celebrity”, and Jason Ferguson – chairman of the game’s governing physique – mentioned Zhao was set to take snooker “to a different degree”.
“We’re speaking a couple of nationwide hero – he has entered the historical past books of this sport and in China he’ll most likely be one of many largest stars there,” Ferguson, chairman of the World Skilled Billiards and Snooker Affiliation (WPBSA), informed BBC Sport.
“Snooker is so large in China. He’s younger, gifted and entertaining and speaks each English and Mandarin. That is going to take snooker to a different degree.
“China loves its heroes and winners. Some nations again underdogs however in China they actually rejoice their champions. He has the flexibility to turn out to be the most well-liked sporting star within the nation.”
The 28-year-old additionally turned solely the third qualifier after Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy to seize snooker’s largest prize because the event moved to Sheffield in 1977.
His achievement is all of the extra extraordinary given he solely returned from a 20-month suspension earlier this season after being one among 10 gamers from China sanctioned in a match-fixing scandal.
Nevertheless, he carried over the scintillating kind he has proven all season on the novice Q Tour and remarkably turned the primary participant to return by means of 4 qualifying matches after which raise the trophy at snooker’s most well-known venue.
After the ultimate, Williams mentioned: “I am glad I will be too previous when he is dominating the sport. I’ve acquired nothing however admiration for what he is finished, coming by means of the qualifiers. He hasn’t performed for 2 years, bashed everyone up. There is a new celebrity of the sport.
“It may very well be large for the game. It may open floodgates in all places. He may dominate or at the very least give [Judd] Trump or Kyren [Wilson] a run for his or her cash. With the Luke Littler factor in darts, that is what snooker wanted, somebody like him coming by means of.
“It’s certain to open doorways. It is going to be entrance web page on each information outlet going.”
Zhao’s success completes a double for the nation, which has greater than 300,000 snooker golf equipment for its inhabitants of 1.4 billion.
Bai Yulu was the primary Chinese language winner of the Ladies’s World Championship in 2024 and can defend the title in her homeland this month.
Could Zhao, who’s in Sheffield to report for the Worldwide Sport Press Affiliation, added: “Zhao’s victory is just not solely a private triumph but in addition a historic breakthrough for Chinese language snooker.
“I believe he can be given an enormous reception when he returns to the nation and this win is certain to encourage the youthful technology in China and drive the event of the nation’s coaching system and construction.
“It has the potential to reshape the industrial panorama of the sport. He isn’t just a champion – he’s a trailblazer for a brand new period of Chinese language snooker.”
