Zhao Xintong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhao (赵).
Zhao Xintong
Zhao Xintong PHC 2016-1.jpg
Zhao at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1997-04-03) 3 April 1997 (age 24)
Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Sport country China
Nickname
  • The Cyclone
Professional2016–present
Highest ranking9 (December 2021)
Current ranking 9 (as of 20 December 2021)
Tournament wins
Ranking1
Medal record
Representing  China
Men's Snooker
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
Gold medal – first place 2017 Ashgabat Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Ashgabat Team

Zhao Xintong (Chinese: 赵心童; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luca Brecel 10–5 in the final. With this win, he entered the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time at number nine, and became eligible to compete in his first Masters.[1]

Career[]

"This boy was astonishingly good and better than anybody I have ever seen at that age - and that includes Ronnie O'Sullivan!"

— Steve Davis[2]

Zhao Xintong first drew international attention in June 2012 at the Zhangjiagang Open defeating high ranking players Xiao Guodong, Irishman Kevin McMahon and Yu Delu to reach the last 16 of the tournament where he narrowly lost 4–3 to Stephen Lee. Zhao would build on this success by reaching the second round of Asian Tour Events the Yixing Open and Zhengzhou Open.

As a wildcard entrant he defeated former World Champion Ken Doherty in the International Championship to reach the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time, again narrowly losing in a final frame decider 6–5 to Matthew Stevens. Having also earned he way to the last 32 of the World Open and China Open, Zhao started gaining the reputation of the Wildcard Menace, a mantle formerly held by Kevin McMahon.[3]

In 2013, at the International Championship, he beat six-time World Champion Steve Davis 6–1 who later commented: "This boy was astonishingly good and better than anybody I have ever seen at that age - and that includes Ronnie O'Sullivan."[2] He went on to reach the third round of the competition before losing 6–2 to Marco Fu, however he would go on to avenge this loss by defeating Fu in the first round of the 2014 Shanghai Masters.[4][deprecated source] Zhao entered the World Amateur Championship in late 2013 reaching the final, however he lost to his fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong 8–4 and thus missed out on a chance to join the world snooker main tour for the 2014–15 season.[5]

2014–15 season[]

Zhao entered several events in an attempt to qualify for the 2015–16 season. He was narrowly defeated in the first round of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship. He won three games in the first event of Q School before losing 4–3 to Alexander Ursenbacher in the penultimate round. In the second event Zhao got extremely close to qualifying for the main tour managing to reach the final round before losing 4–3 to Duane Jones in a black ball finish in the deciding frame.[6][7]

2015–16 season[]

Zhao's high Q School Order of Merit ranking gave him entry as a top up player to many events in the 2015–16 season. He whitewashed Stuart Carrington 6–0 to qualify for the International Championship and, despite losing 6–2 to John Higgins in the first round, his effort of 142 won the high break prize for the event.[8] Zhao made his first appearance at the UK Championship, German Masters and Welsh Open, but was knocked out in the opening round of each.[9] He lost in the final of the 2015 IBSF World Snooker Championship 8–6 to Pankaj Advani.[10] It meant that Zhao won a two-year card for the main tour after Advani declined the invitation.[11]

2016–17 season[]

2016 Paul Hunter Classic

After whitewashing Wang Yuchen 4–0 at the English Open, Zhao met Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round. Breaks of 130, 107 and 80 saw him lead 3–2, but he missed chances to take the win and was defeated 4–3. O'Sullivan said afterwards that Zhao's attacking style of play had reminded him of Stephen Hendry when he was a similar age.[12] He qualified for the German Masters by beating Li Hang 5–3 and John Higgins 5–1 and a 5–0 thrashing of Akani Songsermsawad saw Zhao reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. He held a narrow 4–3 advantage over Ali Carter, but lost the last two frames.[13] Zhao was also edged out in the third round Gibraltar Open 4–3 by Mark Williams.[14]

2017–18 season[]

He dropped off the tour at the end of the 2017–18 season but entered Q School in a bid to win back his place.[15][16] He subsequently won back his place by beating Dechawat Poomjaeng in the second Event final of Q School.[17]

2018–19 season[]

Zhao bounced back after a difficult 2017–18 season, reaching his first semi-final at the China Championship early in the season, beating Matthew Stevens, Anthony McGill, Fergal O'Brien, Mark Williams, and Barry Hawkins, before losing 4–6 to Mark Selby.[18] He also reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, losing 2–5 to eventual finalist Stuart Bingham.[19] Perhaps the biggest achievement of the season for Zhao was reaching the final stages of the World Championship for the first time, but he lost 7–10 to Selby in the first round.[20]

2019–20 season[]

Zhao maintained his form from the previous season, reaching another quarter-final in the German Masters and progressing to the last 16 in at least four other tournaments. This consistent performance elevated his world ranking to 29th by the end of the season. Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, and Alan McManus have all once suggested that Zhao would become a leading player in world snooker due to his enormous potential.[21]

2020-21 season[]

2021-22 season[]

In the 2021 UK Championship, Zhao claimed his first Triple Crown title, and first ranking title overall, by beating Belgian Luca Brecel 10–5, in the final. Due to this, he climbed into the Top 16 of the rankings, at number 9, becoming the Chinese number 1 player. He also qualified for the 2022 Masters, and became number 1 on the one-year ranking list.[22][23] At the Masters, he will play John Higgins in the first round, essentially a repeat of prior meetings in both the World Grand Prix and the UK Championship that he won.

Performance and rankings timeline[]

Tournament 2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22
Ranking[24][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 72 [nb 4] 59 29 26
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event 3R RR
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R 1R 1R 4R LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R 2R 2R 4R 2R 2R
UK Championship A A A 1R 2R 2R 1R 3R 2R W
Scottish Open MR Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R LQ
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R 2R QF 1R
Shoot-Out Non-Ranking Event 2R 1R 3R 2R WD
German Masters A A A 1R 2R LQ LQ QF LQ
Players Championship[nb 5] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ 1R 1R 2R 1R LQ
Welsh Open A A A 1R 1R 1R QF 4R 2R
Tournament Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 3R 3R 1R 3R 3R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A LQ LQ LQ 1R A LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Championship League A A A A A A A A WD
The Masters A A A A A A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic A WR 3R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A A LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters WR WR 2R A LQ LQ Non-Rank. Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 2R 4R A NR Not Held
Indian Open NH A A NH 1R 1R 2R Not Held
China Open 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 6] Not Held Minor-Rank. 2R LQ 3R LQ Not Held
International Championship 1R 3R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ SF 3R Not Held
World Open[nb 7] 1R WR Not Held LQ LQ 1R 1R Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Macau Masters Tournament Not Held RR Not Held
Haining Open Not Held Minor-Rank. A A A 3R Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b c d He was an amateur.
  3. ^ New players don't have a ranking.
  4. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points.
  5. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  6. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  7. ^ The event was called the Haikou World Open (2012/2013–2013/2014)

Career finals[]

Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)[]

Legend
UK Championship (1–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2021 UK Championship Belgium Luca Brecel 10–5

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Iran Hossein Vafaei 4–2

Team finals: 2 (1 title)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Team Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2017 CVB Snooker Challenge  China  Great Britain 9–26
Winner 1. 2018 Macau Masters England Barry Hawkins
Wales Ryan Day
China Zhou Yuelong 		Wales Mark Williams
England Joe Perry
Hong Kong Marco Fu
China Zhang Anda 		5–1

Amateur finals: 2[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1 2013 IBSF World Snooker Championship China Zhou Yuelong 4–8
Runner-up 2 2015 IBSF World Snooker Championship (2) India Pankaj Advani 6–8

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ "Zhao beats Brecel to win UK Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  2. ^ a b Davis 2015, p. 352.
  3. ^ Nunns, Hector (27 October 2014). "Zhao Xintong Targets Pro Place by 2015". inside-snooker.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Shanghai Masters 2014: Results". BBC Sport. 3 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Zhou Yuelong Wins IBSF World Championship". prosnookerblog.com. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  6. ^ "World Snooker's Q School ends as eight new professionals get tour cards at Meadowside Leisure Centre". Burton Mail. 27 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Zhao Xintong 2014/2015". snooker.org. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Bingham Falls to Delu". wst.tv. World Snooker. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Zhao Xintong 2015/2016". snooker.org. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  10. ^ Pathak, Vivek (21 November 2015). "Pankaj crowned with World Snooker title". ibsf.info. IBSF. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Chinese Duo to Turn Professional". wst.tv. World Snooker. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  12. ^ "O'Sullivan Survives Zhao Test". wst.tv. World Snooker. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Carter Wins Zhao Battle". wst.tv. World Snooker. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Zhao Xintong 2016/2017". snooker.org. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Zhao Storms Through in Burton". wst.tv. World Snooker. 16 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Q School Event Two – Final Day Line up". wst.tv. World Snooker. 24 May 2018.
  17. ^ "Brown Earns Tour Return". wst.tv. World Snooker. 25 May 2018.
  18. ^ Caulfield, David (29 September 2018). "China Championship Final: Mark Selby vs John Higgins". SnookerHQ. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Results (Welsh Open 2019)". snooker.org. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  20. ^ "World Snooker Championship: Mark Selby beats Zhao Xintong – best shots" (video). BBC Sport. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Snooker News – Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry Predict Rapid Rise for Zhao Xintong". Eurosport UK. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Snooker's Federer backed to land world title". BBC Sport.
  23. ^ "Watch: Zhao beats Brecel to win UK Championship - best shots". BBC Sport.
  24. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

Sources[]

  • Davis, Steve (2015). Interesting: My Autobiography. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0091958640.

External links[]

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