Steve Sutcliffe

1 week ago | sports.yahoo.com | Steve Sutcliffe

Zhao Xintong made history as he became the first player from China to win the World Championship with an 18-12 victory over Mark Williams in Sheffield. The 28-year-old had extended his 11-6 overnight lead with a dominant display on Monday afternoon to begin the concluding session 17-8 ahead. AdvertisementWilled on by a buoyant Crucible crowd, three-time winner Williams compiled wonderful breaks of 101, 96 and 73 on his way to collecting the first four frames of the evening.

1 week ago | bbc.com | Steve Sutcliffe

Within minutes of becoming China's trailblazing world snooker champion, Zhao Xintong was draped in his country's flag as he started to take in the enormity of his achievement. Williams called the 28-year-old a "superstar", and Jason Ferguson - chairman of the sport's governing body - said Zhao was set to take snooker "to another level".

1 week ago | ca.sports.yahoo.com | Steve Sutcliffe

Zhao Xintong began this season suspended from snooker after a match-fixing scandal but is tipped to be the sport's new "megastar" after becoming the first Chinese player to win the World Championship. The 28-year-old, who lives just a 10-minute walk from the Crucible Theatre venue in Sheffield, joined Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy as the only qualifiers to land snooker's biggest prize since the tournament's 1977 move to South Yorkshire.

1 week ago | bbc.co.uk | Steve Sutcliffe

Zhao Xintong is just one frame away from becoming the first player from China to win the World Championship after extending his lead to 17-8 over Mark Williams in the final. The 28-year-old, who is aiming to become the first amateur to triumph at the Crucible, led 11-6 overnight and was able to take three of the first four frames available on Monday to go 14-7 ahead at the mid-session interval.

1 week ago | bbc.com | Steve Sutcliffe

Zhao Xintong dominated the opening session of the World Championship final against an out-of-sorts Mark Williams to construct a commanding 7-1 lead. It was the perfect start for Zhao as he bids to become China's first ever world champion and only the third player from outside the UK to win the title since 1997. Breaks of 51 and 77 set the tone in the opening frame after three-time winner Williams missed a long red.