Zhao Xintong

Zhao Xintong (Chinese: 赵心童; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player from Bao'an, Shenzhen, in Guangdong. He is the reigning World Snooker Champion and the sport's first World Champion from Asia.

Zhao first turned professional in the 2016‍–‍17 season, aged 19. He won his first ranking title and first Triple Crown title at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luca Brecel 10–5 in the final, after which he entered the top 16 of the snooker world rankings for the first time. The following month, he won the 2022 German Masters with a 9‍–‍0 whitewash over Yan Bingtao, becoming the third player—after Steve Davis and Neil Robertson—to win a two-session ranking final without conceding a frame. In January 2023, he was among a group of Chinese players suspended by the WPBSA and charged with match-fixing offences. Following an independent disciplinary tribunal, he was banned from competitive snooker for 20 months, as a result of which he lost his professional status on the World Snooker Tour.

After his ban expired, Zhao competed on the amateur Q Tour, winning four consecutive events and finishing top of the 2024‍–‍25 Q Tour Europe rankings. He qualified for the 2024 UK Championship but lost his first-round match to Shaun Murphy. After qualifying for the main stage of the 2025 World Championship, he progressed to the final, where he defeated Mark Williams 18–12 to win his first world title and second Triple Crown title. The first player to win a ranking event while competing as an amateur, he re-entered the world rankings at number 11 following the tournament, securing his return to the professional tour the following season.

Zhao subsequently won the non-ranking 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship and made his first professional maximum break at the 2026 Championship League. In February 2026, he claimed back-to-back ranking titles at the 2026 World Grand Prix and the 2026 Players Championship, defeating Zhang Anda 10–6 and John Higgins 10–7 in the respective finals. He became the fourth player in professional snooker history to win his first five ranking finals, following Steve Davis, Williams, and Neil Robertson.

Early life

Born on 3 April 1997, Zhao was raised in the Songgang subdistrict of Bao'an, Shenzhen, Guangdong. His father, Zhao Xiaowei, who transferred from Xi'an to Songgang in 1995, is a finger reconstruction surgeon and the vice president of Songgang People's Hospital as of the 2010s. Zhao's mother Wen Anxiao is a Songgang local and the head nurse of the same hospital as of the 2010s.

Zhao's early exposure to snooker was shaped by Shenzhen, which is known for having a well-established snooker culture, as the sport spread across the British Hong Kong–Shenzhen border in the 1980s. Zhao began playing at age eight on snooker tables set up outside stores near his house. As he was not tall enough for the snooker table, he made up his height by wearing roller skates when practising at a snooker training club in Luohu, Shenzhen, partly to "look cool". He could move around the table quickly on the skates and developed the habit of quick firing. His parents set up a snooker table in their house when Zhao was ten years old.

After graduating from Songgang No.1 Elementary School, he dropped out of Songgang Middle School in 2009 to train full time. It was rare in China for the family's only child to have parental support for quitting middle school. In 2013, he trained at the newly established WPBSA-CBSA Snooker Academy in Changping, Dongguan.

Career

2012–2016: Amateur career

In June 2012, Zhao defeated Xiao Guodong, Kevin McMahon, and Yu Delu to reach the last 16 of the Zhangjiagang Open, where he lost 3‍–‍4 to Stephen Lee. He built on this success by reaching the second round of two Asian Tour Events: the Yixing Open and the Zhengzhou Open.

As a wildcard entrant, he defeated former world champion Ken Doherty at the professional ranking tournament, the 2012 International Championship. He then lost in a deciding frame 5‍–‍6 to Matthew Stevens in the last 32. Having also earned his way to the last 32 of two other events, Zhao began to gain a reputation as a "Wildcard Menace".

He beat six-time world champion Steve Davis 6‍–‍1 at the 2013 International Championship. Davis later described Zhao as "astonishingly good" and compared him with a young Ronnie O'Sullivan. Zhao reached the third round of the competition and was defeated 2‍–‍6 by Marco Fu; the following year, he defeated Fu in the first round of the 2014 Shanghai Masters. In late 2013, he entered the World Amateur Championship and reached the final, where he lost 4‍–‍8 to his fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong, missing the chance to join the main professional snooker tour for the 2014‍–‍15 season.

Zhao was narrowly defeated in the first round of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship in April 2015. He won three matches in the first event of the 2015 Q School before losing 3‍–‍4 to Alexander Ursenbacher in the penultimate round. He reached the final round of the second Q School event but lost 3‍–‍4 to Duane Jones in a black ball finish in the deciding frame. He completed a 6‍–‍0 whitewash of Stuart Carrington to qualify for the 2015 International Championship, where he lost 2‍–‍6 to John Higgins in the first round. Zhao made his first appearance in a Triple Crown event at the 2015 UK Championship but lost 2‍–‍6 to Mark Allen in the first round. He qualified for the German Masters and the Welsh Open in 2016 but was knocked out in the opening round of both events. He reached the final of the World Amateur Championship in 2015, losing 6‍–‍8 to Pankaj Advani. As runner-up, Zhao received a two-year tour card for the main professional tour when Advani declined the invitation.

2016–2022: Early professional years, 2021 UK Champion

Zhao met Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the 2016 English Open. Breaks of 130, 107 and 80 gave him a 3‍–‍2 lead, but he missed chances to take the win and was defeated 3‍–‍4. O'Sullivan said afterwards that Zhao's attacking style of play had reminded him of seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry at a similar age. Zhao qualified for the 2017 German Masters by beating Li Hang 5‍–‍3 and John Higgins 5‍–‍1, and a 5‍–‍0 whitewash of Sunny Akani saw Zhao reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. He held a narrow 4‍–‍3 advantage over Ali Carter but lost the last two frames. He also reached the third round of the Gibraltar Open before losing 3‍–‍4 to Mark Williams.

Zhao was not ranked high enough at the end of the 2017‍–‍18 season to retain his spot on the World Snooker Tour, so he entered 2018 Q School in a bid to win back his place. He defeated Dechawat Poomjaeng in the second event final of Q School to regain his professional status. He reached his first professional ranking semi-finals at the 2018 China Championship, where he lost 4‍–‍6 to Mark Selby. He progressed to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, losing 2‍–‍5 to eventual finalist Stuart Bingham. Zhao qualified for the World Snooker Championship for the first time in 2019 but lost 7‍–‍10 to Selby in the first round.

In the 2019‍–‍20 season, Zhao reached the last 16 stage of four ranking events and the quarter-finals of the 2020 German Masters, elevating his world ranking to 29th by the end of the season. Snooker professionals Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Alan McManus all suggested at the time that Zhao could potentially become a leading player in world snooker due to his enormous potential. In December 2020, Zhao reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix; after beating Jamie Jones 4‍–‍2 in the first round and John Higgins 4‍–‍3 in the second, he was defeated 3‍–‍5 by Jack Lisowski.

Zhao claimed his first ranking title at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luca Brecel 10‍–‍5 in the final; the win elevated Zhao to ninth in the snooker world rankings. By entering the elite "top 16", he qualified for the invitational 2022 Masters for the first time, where he played John Higgins in the first round but lost the match 2‍–‍6.

He defeated Yan Bingtao 9‍–‍0 in the final of the 2022 German Masters to claim his second ranking title. Zhao became only the third player, after Steve Davis and Neil Robertson, to win a two-session ranking final by a whitewash. At the 2022 World Snooker Championship, he defeated Jamie Clarke in the first round but lost in the second round to Stephen Maguire.