Zhao Xintong breaks Chinese curse to become nation's first World Snooker Champion
Lewis Watson 
The Snooker World Championships came to an end on Monday evening, with Zhao Xintong fighting off a spirited Mark Williams comeback to lift the title.
The Chinese cueman entered the tournament as an amateur and was nowhere near the top of the market with UK betting sites in the build-up to the tournament, but capped a memorable fortnight at the Crucible with an impressive win.
It could spark an era of dominance in the sport for Chinese players, who have long been tipped to revolutionise the game, and snooker expert Lewis Watson has had a closer look at this year's winner.
History was made on Monday evening inside Sheffield's historic Crucible Theatre.
Zhao Xintong beat former three-time world champion Mark Williams 18-12 in a memorable final, becoming the first world champion from China — a country that has had a growing obsession with the sport over the past few decades.
Xintong entered the tournament ranked as an amateur following a 20-month ban from the sport for knowledge of match fixing and betting operations on the World Snooker Tour. He returned to the baize in September last year, and has now capped off this remarkable return to the sport by scooping the biggest prize of all.
Xintong found a route past Jak Jones, Lei Peifan, Chris Wakelin, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams to win his maiden crown, and this year's runner-up Mark Williams doesn't believe it will be his last.
"It's been a brilliant tournament for me," Williams told the BBC after suffering defeat. "The support I've had for the past two weeks has been unbelievable. But what a potter Zhao is. 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. I'm still playing quite good stuff, even though my eyesight is a bit blurry," he added.
"When I stood on the steps and they were all on their feet - it brought a tear to the eye. But the night belongs to Zhao, and congratulations."
The 28-year-old now finds himself sat at number two in the world rankings and, along with making history in front of millions of people watching in China, Zintong also earned a whopping £500,000 for the victory.
It continues a growing trend of first-time winners at the Crucible that has seen Xintong, Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel winning their first world titles over the last three editions, ending a long run of familiar names adding to their tallies, dating back to Stuart Bingham's surprise win in 2015.
Xintong now has a World Championship, UK Championship and German Masters winners medal in his cabinet and with a fresh season on the table to look forward to next year without interruption, the Cyclone will be short odds in the snooker betting markets to add to this collection.
“It’s very good for Chinese snooker,” Zhao said. “I’m very happy I’ve done this for them. It’s unbelievable. This is like a dream. When I shook hands with Mark [Williams] I nearly cried. My first target was just to get through the qualifiers. In the future, many Chinese players can win this.”
