Aaron Ashley: Zhao Xintong's success could be the springboard for a Chinese domination

The Chinese snooker revolution may have finally arrived after Zhao Xintong's historic World Championship title triumph at the Crucible last week and it is an accomplishment that could soon spell trouble for those elite members playing outside East Asia.

Chinese snooker domination has been a prediction thrown about for many years and it was a journey that was inspired by national hero Ding Junhui, who won the UK Championship as a budding 18-year-old to help the game go global.

Ding became the second-youngest ranking event winner in snooker history with that success, behind Ronnie O’Sullivan, and it sent his nation into rapture while many on English soil were left fearing a changing of the guard.

Ding had his chance to continue the cycle - he was beaten 18-14 in the 2016 World Championship final against Mark Selby - and few would have expected such a lengthy wait for China to have another shot at Crucible gold.

Flaky temperaments were often associated with young Chinese players and, while it may have been something that stopped Ding doing even more damage during his career, he has influenced a new generation and without him the achievement might not have  been possible.

It has taken nine years since Ding’s Crucible heartbreak for a Chinese world champion to be crowned and that is down to Zhao, who defied being an amateur to get his hands on the biggest trophy of them all.

That is because Zhao was one of ten Chinese snooker players implicated in a match-fixing investigation in 2023, resulting in a 20-month suspension, but he was able to serve the shortest of punishments available due to his lesser involvement.

However, it did result in Zhao losing his status as a professional player and, having won the UK Championship in 2021 and the German Masters in 2022, he was back at square one and had to make his way on the amateur circuit.

The 28-year-old made hay through the Q Tour, where he won four out of seven events and set a record with 32 consecutive victories, and while for many his World Championship success has been tainted by his past mistakes, it is hard to argue with his natural talent.

To win four qualifiers before dispatching last year’s runner-up Jak Jones, Lei Peifan and Chris Wakelin to reach the semi-finals at the Crucible is one thing.

But from there he levelled the greatest of all-time, taking apart seven-time champion O’Sullivan 17-7 with a session to spare, before overcoming inexperience to claim another scalp of the Class of ’92 with his 18-12 victory over Mark Williams in the final.

It was a simply sublime tournament from a very special player, making him the only amateur to win the world title in the Crucible era and the flag-bearer for a country so passionate for the game.

Zhao, nicknamed The Cyclone, has the potential to take the game by storm and China may not have to wait too long before they are celebrating another Crucible success.

Zhao is the obvious candidate to become a multiple champion but there were a record-breaking ten Chinese players in the main draw at this year’s Crucible and his breakthrough success could act as the platform.

Four of those Crucible representatives were seeded and in the last two seasons alone seven different players hailing from China have reached ranking event finals.

Si Jiahui is one of those and, having made the semi-final at the Crucible on his debut in 2023 and been a quarter-finalist this year, the 22-year-old is another destined for big things.

The same could be said for  21-year-old Peifan, who clinched the Scottish Open title in December with victory over fellow up-and-comer Wu Yize, while his first taste of Crucible experience this year saw him beat defending champion Kyren Wilson in round one.

With 14 Chinese players currently ranked in the world’s top 50, things are starting to look ominous for the rest and Zhao’s heroics should only guarantee that another generation is soon on the train to success.

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