Zhao sees off Robertson to clinch Riyadh title

The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship was won by world champion Zhao Xintong, who defeated Neil Robertson 5-2 to claim the victory.

For his success in Saudi Arabia, Zhao becomes the 11th individual winner from 11 competitions this year. He also collects £250,000.

Zhao rallied from the opening two frames to take the lead 4-1 after the pair of frames that were shared, compiled superb breaks of 131 and 134.

The 28-year-old from China sealed his victory with a half-century in the seventh frame, despite Robertson crafting a 91 to lessen his arrears.

“I didn’t want to let Neil know that I was anxious.” Because of Neil’s excellent play and desire to play in this final, I was eager to watch this game a lot. Zhao expressed his happiness at this point.

This week has been amazing, I must say. I saw a lot of people there for me when I was there for the first time in Saudi.

For Zhao, who had earlier clinched a dramatic 4-3 victory over Judd Trump in the semi-finals, it ended up being a comfortable win.

Trump had a 2-0 and 3-2 lead in a see-saw match, but Zhao showed his unwavering resolve when he recorded the game’s highest break of the week, a 138 against the Englishman.

Robertson, who defeated Mark Allen 4-1, had been aiming to be the only player this season to win multiple titles, despite looking rejuvenated over the past 18 months.

A few “tired misses” [of Zhao’s] expense, I believe. Robertson said, “He punished me really well because I had shown him very little in the way of getting to the final.”

Following a superb 73 clearance in the fifth frame, the Australian made it past Allen.