Zhao Xintong has his sights on becoming China's first world snooker champion after blazing into round two with a 10-4 win over last year’s runner-up Jak Jones at the Crucible.
The 28-year-old from Xian made the most of his 20-month ban for his involvement in a betting scandal by having laser surgery on his eyes in 2024.
Xintong, who won the UK Championship in 2021, duly returned as an amateur to cruise through Q School and four rounds of Crucible qualifiers before reeling off nine half-centuries to overwhelm the 31-year-old Welshman.
His current form has seen him widely installed as third favourite for the title behind Judd Trump and Mark Selby, and many including Jones and the 2010 world champion Neil Robertson are convinced the Chinese star can go all the way.
"For two years I had no tournament but I kept practising and I had laser surgery because although I won the UK Championship and the German Masters I could not see properly," said Zhao.
"Now I can see everything and I think I’m stronger than I was two years ago. I’m very happy (that people say I can win it) but I will just try my best. I’ve played four qualifying matches so it gives me some confidence."
Zhao was one of 10 Chinese players handed bans associated with betting infringements in 2023, but a new generation has already emerged with a record 10 players from China starting out in this year’s first round draw.
Zhao’s win over Jones has also guaranteed a Chinese quarter-finalist as he will next face Lei Peifan, conqueror of defending champion Kyren Wilson on the opening day, in the last 16.
Jones put up a fight after resuming with a 7-2 overnight deficit, winning the first two frames on Monday with breaks of 100 and 70 before a missed red in the next cost him any slim hope of rescuing the tie.
"Xintong is a top 16 player who played the qualifiers, and you could see it in his sharpness," said Jones. "He put me under so much pressure and he will be hard to stop.
"I don’t see anyone who’s playing better than him. His long potting is good, his scoring is good, and he’s good tactically. I don’t see anyone better than him in this tournament."
Joe O'Connor missed out on a maximum but chiselled a 5-4 advantage over John Higgins after the opening session of their first-round clash that is due to conclude on Monday evening.
The Leicester qualifier potted 12 reds and red blacks in the seventh frame and was on track to make the 15th 147 in Crucible history before missing a tough red to the top corner with the rest.
O’Connor, who dumped his good friend Mark Selby out at the first-round stage last year, largely controlled the opening stages but struggled to make his scoring count against the experienced Scot.
Higgins, the four-time champion who comes into this year’s tournament in top form after clinching the Tour Championship title earlier this month, failed to muster a single half-century during nine largely long and attritional frames.
But despite O’Connor’s 100 break in the sixth frame and three further breaks over 80, Higgins hung on and took the final frame of the morning session to suggest a late finish could be on the cards on Monday evening.
