World Snooker Championship final 2025 LIVE RESULT: Zhao Xintong beats Williams to win Crucible title and £500k jackpot

Tide is turning

Zhao's success is also a boost for those who expect the game to be dominated by players from the Far East over the coming years, especially given the 'Class of 92' of O'Sullivan, Williams and John Higgins, have reached or are close to, their 50th birthdays.

Huge audience in China

China is snooker's biggest market in the television landscape, making up more than 50% of its global audience.

'You'd better watch out'

Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn told BBC Radio 5 Live: "He's 28, I think he's going to be the leader of the next batch of Chinese players, plenty of whom are knocking on the door anyway.

"So the message to the players from the rest of the world is 'you'd better watch out' because China is going to be even bigger than it was."

Integrated system

While there is not a formal national curriculum dedicated specifically to snooker in China, the WPBSA is aware of the game being integrated into the school system through academies.

"I've seen first-hand children coming into the building at 09:00 handing in their phones and then spending hours playing snooker, alongside traditional lessons," said Matt Huart, the WPBSA head of communications.

Chinese fans celebrate Zhao's triumph

In China, fans have gone to social media site Weibo to celebrate Zhao's triumph, with the new world champion featuring in a number of trending searches and hashtags.

The hashtag 'Zhao Xintong wins World Snooker Championship' alone had 110 million views and 44,000 comments on Tuesday morning.

Some tributes being posted have come in the form of AI-made fan art, with one poster showing Zhao waving the Chinese flag victoriously while standing on top of a mountain facing the sunrise with the phrase 'Making History'.

'A historic breakthrough'

Zhao's success completes a double for China, which has more than 300,000 snooker clubs for its population of 1.4 billion.

Bai Yulu was the first Chinese winner of the Women's World Championship in 2024 and will defend the title in her homeland this month.

May Zhao, who is in Sheffield to report for the International Sport Press Association, added: "Zhao's victory is not only a personal triumph but also a historic breakthrough for Chinese snooker.

"I think he will be given a huge reception when he returns to the country and this win is sure to inspire the younger generation in China and drive the development of the country's training system and structure.

"It has the potential to reshape the commercial landscape of the game. He is not just a champion – he is a trailblazer for a new era of Chinese snooker."

'This is what snooker needed'

Here are some more comments from Mark Williams after he was beaten by Zhao in the final.

I'm glad I'll be too old when he's dominating the game. I've got nothing but admiration for what he's done, coming through the qualifiers. He hasn't played for two years, bashed everybody up. There's a new superstar of the game.

It could be huge for the sport. It could open floodgates everywhere. He could dominate or at least give [Judd] Trump or Kyren [Wilson] a run for their money. With the Luke Littler thing in darts, this is what snooker needed, someone like him coming through.

It is bound to open doors. It will be front page on every news outlet going.

Mark Williams

Huge achievement

Zhao's achievement is all the more extraordinary given he only returned from a 20-month suspension earlier this season after being one of 10 players from China sanctioned in a match-fixing scandal.

WOW XINTONG

Controversial star becomes China's first world snooker champ

'He's a national hero'

Here's what Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), had to say about Zhao's win.

We are talking about a national hero – he has entered the history books of this sport and in China he will probably be one of the biggest stars there.

Snooker is so big in China. He is young, talented and entertaining and speaks both English and Mandarin. This is going to take snooker to another level.

China loves its heroes and winners. Some countries back underdogs but in China they really celebrate their champions. He has the ability to become the most popular sporting star in the country."

Jason Ferguson

'He's going to inspire another wave of players in China'

Here's more reaction to Zhao Xintong's win from John Parrot:

You think about how many snooker clubs they've got in China, clubs with hundreds of tables, and the population in general – he's going to inspire another wave of players in China and all over Asia.

There will be more to come. Whether they will be as talented as him, I don't know, because this boy is very talented.

John Parrot

'Zhao will become a scalp now'

Here's what John Parrot, 1991 world champion, had to say about the final.

Zhao will become a scalp now.

Before the tournament started, I'd be very surprised if people put him in as a finalist. He's thoroughly deserved to win the World Championship, by the way.

But he's now a scalp - people will look at him and want to play Zhao Xintong.

John Parrot, speaking on BBC Two

Made to work for it

As he wakes up today, he will wonder if it was all a dream.

But Zhao Xintong will rise to the thought that is he is the world champion with a smile from ear-to-ear.

He did it the hard way, coming through four qualifying rounds and winning 111 frames over 9 matches to get his hands on that trophy.

Now, he can look back on it and smile.

Record-setting Zhao on fire

Zhao Xintong has become only the third-ever qualifier to win the World Snooker Championship at The Crucible.

He beat last year's runner-up Jak Jones en-route to the final, along with two former world champions in Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams.

And most impressively, he is the first amateur to ever win the world title.

Everyone wants to take down the king

Tournaments will prove to be very different from now.

There is nothing a snooker player will want more than to take the scalp of te reigning world champion.

Zhao Xintong will be in the sights of many other players now, all wanting to play and defeat him.

That is now the challenge for the Chinese star.

Time for forget past sins

It has been well-documented about Zhao Xintong's ban from the sport, but former champion John Parrott sums it up perfectly:

"It's a second chance and he's totally redeemed himself. He did the crime, he's had the time, he held his hand up, the association has handled it with the punishment he got.

"Two of his compatriots got life bans, it was handled very well.

"Here he is, he's got a second chance, he's come back and he won't be doing it again."

Right in the eye of the storm

Something Zhao Xintong is going to have to get used to from now is the world's media descending on him.

This is the life he now leads as a world champion of the sport.

Many past winners have said after their first world title, how everything changes overnight and can take some getting used to.

Interesting time ahead for sport

Speaking with BBC Sport, a former legend of the game had his say on the health of snooker moving forward:

You see the quality of Zhao Xintong - it's the future and the shape of things to come. But not just from China, we're seeing more players come out from Europe as well. It's going to be a slow diversification around the world and snooker will be the healthier for it. From the UK's perspective, we've got some great young players coming through as well - it's going to be a great balance in the future.

Steve DavisSix-Time World Champion

Popularity only going to grow

As Zhao Xintong's win takes him into top-32 in the world rankings, China is really starting to thrive in the sport.

Currently, they have 10 players in the highest tier of the rankings, with only England bettering that figure with 15.

After Zhao's victory this weekend, we will no doubt see even more Chinese youngsters take to the sport.

Inspiring a generation of players

Speaking on BBC Sport's coverage of the final, a former world champion had his say on this monumental feat:

You think about how many snooker clubs they've got in China, clubs with hundreds of tables, and the population in general - he's going to inspire another wave of players in China and all over Asia. There will be more to come. Whether they will be as talented as him, I don't know, because this boy is very talented.

John Parrott1991 World Champion

In it for the long game

It was on 7 April that he Zhao Xintong took to the table for his first qualifying match at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

He had to slog his way through the early rounds most don't get to see.

Fast forward to 5 May, he is securing victory over Mark Williams in the final at The Crucible.

Levels.