‘People take pictures of me at the airport’ – Zhao on Crucible win

When Zhao Xintong became China’s first world snooker champion, life changed irreversibly for him – and the sport in his homeland.

Zhao, 28, made snooker history in May when he completed an incredible nine-match winning run from the opening qualifying round all the way to the final, beating Mark Williams 18-12 at the Crucible in Sheffield to achieve the sport’s ultimate glory.

“I’m trying to learn and now being world champion is very different, you need to do more things,” said Zhao after his 6-1 win on Monday over compatriot Long Zehuang in the opening round of the UK Championship.

“There’s a lot of pressure and that’s a big problem for me so I’m learning how to enjoy the table and when I win any match, I’m just very happy.

“This is my first time to be famous and I’m very busy. I don’t have time to practise but now I’m trying to get the balance and trying to get better. I’m not sure this is all real!”

There is no wonder Zhao is struggling to absorb all that has happened after a rollercoaster few years that have taken him from the sport’s depths to breathtaking highs.

Zhao announced himself to the snooker world in 2021 by winning the UK Championship title, beating Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final in York.

But then his future in the sport was in doubt as he was one of 10 Chinese players to be banned in a corruption scandal.

Zhao did not directly throw a match but was initially suspended for two and a half years, reduced to one year and eight months after his early admissions and guilty plea. He accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

He made his return to top-level snooker at the UK Championship last year, before his stunning Crucible run.

On Monday, Zhao played his first match in a Triple Crown event (World Championship, UK Championship or Masters) since that memorable May night and he impressed throughout, making breaks of 107, 68, 51, 59, 52 and 72 in his victory over 28-year-old UK debutant Long.

Long, 54th in the world rankings, had to battle through three qualifying rounds to get to York and avoided a 6-0 defeat with a fortunate pot on the pink in the sixth frame, but could not fight back against Zhao.

Twelve of the 32 players in the draw are from China, the highest number in a Triple Crown tournament, and Zhao could meet another Chinese player in the last 16 if Zhang Anda beats England’s Gary Wilson on Monday evening (19:00 GMT).

Zhao is hoping to having another extended run at York Barbican, a venue that will always be close to his heart.

He said: “I have good memories here as it was my first championship – Barbican is my lucky place so I enjoyed that today. Now I’ve just started, I’ve not finished, so I can get better in the future in every area.”

After his win over Long, Zhao spoke of how his life had changed over the past few months.

“It is a big difference now when I go back to China,” added Zhao.

It is not just Zhao who feels the nerves when he plays, as he revealed his family were so tense they could not watch his World Championship final.

“When I played the final, they turned off their phone and went on a city walk because there was big pressure,” said Zhao. “They did not want to look at the TV, three hours later they turned on the phone to get the message [he was world champion].

Zhao hopes he can inspire other players, just as Ding Junhui inspired him after he won the 2005 China Open, two days after his 18th birthday, by beating Stephen Hendry.

“It’s very good for Chinese players and Chinese snooker now is very strong,” added Zhao. “I won the World Championship and that gives everybody the confidence and helps them get stronger.

There was a piece of snooker history in Monday’s afternoon session when for the first time at a Triple Crown competition, four Chinese players were on the two television tables.

Three-time UK champion Ding beat Xu Si 6-4 on table two, helped by breaks of 103, 66, 92, 109 and 64.

“The first five or six frames it didn’t look like I was in the game, then I found some breaks, but before we were both struggling and messing around.”

Ding feels Zhao’s world title will help inspire more Chinese youngsters and the country could dominate the sport in the future.

“There are more young Chinese players now that are playing much better,” said Ding. “I’ve done a lot for snooker in China in my career and now Xintong has won a world title.

“In 15 years, I don’t see many players from the UK or Europe [being in the top 16]. In China there are hundreds of young ones at a good level, at 12 or 13.