Zhao Xintong defeated the Rockets 17-7! Advancing to the finals of the World Snooker Championship, Chinese players shine in the British Isles

At 2 o'clock in the morning on May 3, Beijing time, the semifinals of the 2025 Snooker World Championship continued, Zhao Xintong and O'Sullivan's third stage of the game competed, after 16 rounds in the first two stages, Zhao Xintong took the lead 12-4 (the semifinals took 33 rounds and 17 wins), Zhao Xintong gave the rocket a nine-consecutive whip across the stage, which is indeed too strong! Here are the details.

After the first two stages, Zhao Xintong 12-4 O'Sullivan

Final four of the 2025 World Snooker Championships

As we all know, the World Championship is the most heavyweight event in the sport of snooker, and the World Championship championship is undoubtedly the ultimate dream of every snooker player, and the World Championship champion is crowned the title of "World Champion"! At present, "Billiards Emperor" Hendry and "Rocket" O'Sullivan are tied for first place in history with 7 World Championship championships.

The World Snooker Championship is the highest, and the prize money is also quite generous! Although the prize money has not increased since 2019, the championship of 500,000 pounds is the most on the snooker tour at present! The new Saudi Masters (ranking tournament) this season also has a prize money of 500,000 pounds, as much as the World Championships, and the first Saudi Masters championship was won by Trump (Trump 10-9 Mark Williams in the final).

The prize money for the runner-up of the World Championships is £200,000, the semi-finals are £100,000, the quarterfinals are £50,000, the top 16 is £30,000, and the guaranteed prize money for entering the main event (round of 32) is £20,000. If they can reach the semi-finals of the World Championships, the prize money of £100,000 is equivalent to the prize money of a mid-level ranking event. The World Championships adopts a long-game competition system, which has extremely high requirements for the comprehensive quality of players!

The first round of the qualifying round and the main competition (32 into 16) adopts a 19-game 10-win system, which is divided into two stages (9/10); The second round of the main competition (16 into 8) and the 1/4 finals adopt a 25-game 13-win system, divided into 3 stages (8/8/9);

The semi-finals will be 33 rounds and 17 wins, divided into 4 stages (8/8/8/9); The final adopts a best-of-18 system of 35 rounds, which is also divided into 4 stages (8/9/8/10). The defending champion of this World Championship is "Brother Embarrassment" Kyren Wilson, but Brother Embarrassment lost in the first round of the main tournament, 9-10 by Chinese player Lei Peifan, 22-year-old Lei Peifan Crucible debut is quite amazing!

This year, a total of 10 Chinese players entered the main round of the World Championships (top 32), creating a new history of Chinese snooker! Please let us remember the names of these 10 Chinese players, they are Ding Junhui, Zhao Xintong, Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, Wu Yize, Pang Junxu, Zhou Yuelong, Lei Peifan, Fan Zhengyi.

Ding Junhui, the "first brother" of Chinese snooker, said on his social media: "The threshold I stepped on back then has now become everyone's runway...... If you are an old snooker fan for more than 20 years, you will deeply understand the gold content of Ding Junhui's words!

At present, many fans may be disappointed with Ding Junhui's results, but you must know that Ding Junhui currently holds 15 ranking championships, which is more than all other Chinese players combined, which is enough to highlight Ding Junhui's greatness!

Ding Junhui's global development of snooker and his influence on Chinese young people are definitely historic, and there is no doubt that Ding Junhui is the absolute "first brother" in the field of snooker in China.

After many days of competition in this World Championships, only Zhao Xintong of the 10 Chinese players advanced to the semifinals, you must know that Zhao Xintong participated in the World Championships as an amateur player this year, only because Zhao Xintong was banned for 20 months on suspicion of manipulating the results of the game. In fact, Zhao Xintong did not receive substantial benefits, but only did not report it, and the ban period was shortened from 2 and a half years to 20 months due to his good attitude.

On September 1, 2024, Zhao Xintong's international ban will end, but Zhao Xintong's ban by the Chinese Billiards Association will still be 2 and a half years, and Zhao Xintong will not be released from the ban in China until July this year.

From September 2024 to early 2025, Zhao Xintong won a two-year snooker tour qualification by winning four consecutive Q Tour titles, and Zhao Xintong will return as a professional player in the 25/26 season. In this World Championships, Zhao Xintong qualified as an amateur player and qualified with a wild card, and Zhao Xintong got the opportunity to prove himself!

Zhao Xintong started from the first round of the qualifying round (144 into 112), won 7 consecutive games to advance to the semifinals, creating the best result of an amateur player in the World Championships, Zhao Xintong's road to promotion (the bracketed numbers represent the world ranking):

Qualifying round 1 (144 into 112): Zhao Xintong 10-3 Zhang Jiawei (103)

Qualifying round second round (112 into 80): Zhao Xintong 10-8 Long Zehuang (61)

Qualifying round 3 (80 into 48): Zhao Xintong 10-4 Lu Haotian (37)

Qualifying round 4 (48 into 32): Zhao Xintong 10-8 Elliott Slesser (28)

First round of the main draw (32 into 16): Zhao Xintong 10-4 Jack Jones (16)

Second round of the main match (16 into 8): Zhao Xintong 13-10 Lei Peifan (39)

1/4 finals: Zhao Xintong 13-5 Wakelin (20)

O'Sullivan is ranked 5th in the world and directly qualified for the main tournament (round of 32) as a seeded player, and the promotion path is:

The first round of the main draw (32 into 16): O'Sullivan 10-4 Ali Carter (18)

The second round of the main match (16 into 8): O'Sullivan 13-4 Pang Junxu (27)

1/4 finals: O'Sullivan 13-9 Si Jiahui (13)

So far, O'Sullivan and Zhao Xintong have ushered in a confrontation in the semifinals, O'Sullivan is currently the greatest player in the snooker project, winning a total of 41 ranking championships in his career, 7 Grand Slam winners, and a World Championship championship away from 8 Grand Slams!

Zhao Xintong is 28 years old, 21 years younger than O'Sullivan, in the 21/22 season, the then 24-year-old Zhao Xintong ushered in the highlight of his career, winning the British Championship and the German Masters two ranking tournaments, so far the world ranking into the top ten.

If it weren't for Zhao Xintong's ban, I believe his career might have been more brilliant, but Zhao Xintong is still young after all, and he is still full of opportunities! After the ban was lifted, Zhao Xintong was completely holding back his strength, and this World Championships ushered in a big explosion! won 7 games in a row, becoming the fourth Chinese player to advance to the semifinals of the World Championships after Fu Jiajun, Ding Junhui and Si Jiahui.

In the semifinals between Zhao Xintong and O'Sullivan, the two sides drew 4-4 at the end of the first stage; In the second stage, Zhao Xintong won 8 games in a row, and by the end of the previous two stages, Zhao Xintong took the lead with a big score of 12-4, and the following brings the details of the third stage of the game between the two sides.

Game 17

Zhao Xintong defended to seek angles, and was penalized 8 points for not hitting the red ball twice, O'Sullivan scored a precise long platform, but there was no color ball connection, O'Sullivan was also fouled and was penalized 4 points, Zhao Xintong was penalized for defending the cue ball accidentally fell into the bag and was fined 4 points, and his luck was indeed bad......

O'Sullivan's long platform scored again to get a chance to get up, scored 36 points with a single stroke, the offense was interrupted, O'Sullivan led by 45 points 49-4, Zhao Xintong ushered in the opportunity, but Zhao Xintong did not grasp it, and scored 14 points with a single shot and made a mistake, O'Sullivan did not miss the opportunity again, scored 37 points with a single shot, and won the 17th game 86-22, O'Sullivan 5-12 Zhao Xintong!

Game 18

Zhao Xintong took the lead in scoring the red ball but there was no color ball connection, O'Sullivan's long platform attack did not score, leaving Zhao Xintong to continue to play the mobile phone opportunity, Zhao Xintong scored 36 points with a single shot, and there was a mistake in hitting the black ball. O'Sullivan scored 46 points in a single stroke, leading by 9 points at 46-37, and there were 6 colored balls left on the table (a total of 27 points).

O'Sullivan scored a yellow ball, Zhao Xintong scored a green goal, O'Sullivan led by 8 points at 48-40, and then O'Sullivan made a snooker, Zhao Xintong was penalized 4 points, O'Sullivan scored a coffee ball and a blue ball, 61-40 won the 18th game, O'Sullivan 6-12 Zhao Xintong!

Game 19

O'Sullivan was penalized 8 points for two mistakes in solving the ball, Zhao Xintong scored 37 points with a single shot, and there was a mistake in hitting the pink ball, and O'Sullivan made a mistake again in a very simple ball, and the state was really bad! Zhao Xintong did not miss the opportunity again, scored 62 points with a single stroke, won the 19th game 107-0, and Zhao Xintong 13-6 O'Sullivan!

Game 20

Zhao Xintong scored a precise long platform to get a chance to get on the phone, cleared the table with a strong shot, and scored 128 points to win the 20th game, Zhao Xintong 14-6 O'Sullivan!

Game 21

O'Sullivan took the lead, after scoring 57 points with a single stroke, a simple red ball made a mistake again, Zhao Xintong scored 8 points with a single stroke, and the long platform attack failed, O'Sullivan seized the opportunity, scored 17 points with a single stroke, and won the 21st game 74-13, O'Sullivan 7-14 Zhao Xintong!

Game 22

O'Sullivan's attack failed to leave a chance, Zhao Xintong scored 85 points with a single stroke, and won the 22nd game 85-0, Zhao Xintong 15-7 O'Sullivan!

Game 23

O'Sullivan scored a red ball but was unlucky, the cue ball fell into the bag, Zhao Xintong did not get a good offensive opportunity, O'Sullivan scored 9 points twice, and then a simple red ball made a mistake, Zhao Xintong scored 63 points with a single shot, and the offense was interrupted.

Zhao Xintong led by 58 points 67-9, there were 4 red balls left on the table (up to 59 points), O'Sullivan scored the red ball and connected to the black ball and it was a low-level mistake, Zhao Xintong did not miss the opportunity, 74-10 won the 23rd game, Zhao Xintong 16-7 O'Sullivan, got the match point!

Game 24

Zhao Xintong's long platform offense got a chance to get on the phone, but the offense was interrupted after a single shot scored 5 points, O'Sullivan scored 32 points with a single shot, and then both sides each defended a shot, O'Sullivan's second defense made a mistake, Zhao Xintong cleared the stage with a strong shot, so far Zhao Xintong defeated O'Sullivan with a score of 17-7 and took the lead in advancing to the World Championships finals!

Zhao Xintong became the second Chinese player to advance to the final of the World Championships after Ding Junhui! And you must know that the current Zhao Xintong is still an amateur player, and he participated as a wild card to advance to the final of the World Championships, which is definitely a historic moment in the history of the World Snooker Championships! Chinese player Zhao Xintong shines in the British Isles!

Looking forward to Zhao Xintong's more exciting performance in the final finals, defending the honor of Chinese snooker in a foreign country, and striving to win the World Championships, Zhao Xintong come on!