Key events
Williams 1-5 Zhao (0-44) Zhao carefully and confidently removes balls. He knows how important this visit is, but so far is riding the pressure pretty well, opening the pack and freeing everything therein. We said it!
Williams 1-5 Zhao (0-23) The players prod in and out of the reds, prime re-rack territory, then a loose one from Zhao allows Mark to play a pot … except he can’t get it down, it stays over the bag, and this is a chance for the Chinese to take control of the match. If he can even split the last two frames, he’s flying, but there’s every chance he takes both. Ahahaha, but of course, as I type, he misses a dolly to middle … and so does Mark to corner! He just can’t get anything going and if he’s not careful, by the time he does, Zhao will be out of sight.
Williams 1-5 Zhao A real heel to the solar plexus for Mark. He daren’t lose either of the next two because, though it’s a long match, he’s playing an opponent likely to reel off a fair few frames in one visit.
Williams 1-4 Zhao (61-51) There are two reds just above black cush but Mark should be able to get on the higher of them. Instead, though, he develops the other, leaving himself a minging skinny cut-back to left corner … and to which he does not get close. Oh and he also leaves one! Gosh, these are big moments already, and when Zhao gets nicely on the last red, with colours on their spots the frame looks likely to be his.
Williams 1-4 Zhao (16-37) A strange shot-choice from Zhao, bumping pack off top rail instead of crashing into it like AJ Tracey, means it’s soon end of break. I’m surprised he was so conservative, but I guess he doesn’t want to take any chances with his lead. And, shonuff, his timidity is soon punished; perhaps smarting at his behaviour, he takes on a double and misses; Mark clips in a fine starter before building an important contribution.
Williams 1-4 Zhao (0-21) Both players leave the arena then Mark returns and immediately leaves a starter off the break; Zhao sends it down then gets to work.
Williams 1-4 Zhao If Zhao keeps winning the scrappy ones, Mark has a problem.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (49-72) Mark clears to the blue, so now only needs two snookers given the higher value of balls left … but he then leaves a pot.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (40-72) Sending blue to middle, Zhao gets too much on the white, making frame-ball red harder than necessary; he’s high above it and needs to cut from centre to right corner and cannot. However a good cue-ball means Mark then hits the pink so, with three snookers required, he clears a few, lays one Zhao escapes, then goes again soon after; that’s one.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (28-43) Clever from Zhao, sending a red on the right side towards left corner, where there’s another over the bag; down it goes. So Zhao narrows the gap, a nice red to middle keeping the run going, then another sent long to the yellow bag. That’s lovely, and one of the many things I like about how this boy plays is that he fully commits to his shots once he’s decided to take them on. This looks a lot like 4-1.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (28-5) They play in and out of the pack from near the top rail, then Zhao spots a three-ball plant to the yellow bag … and it’s there! But he’s on nowt! Perhaps out of disappointment, his next shot is poor, bringing the black back into play while leaving one to right corner, and that’s the creeping pressure Mark imposes. He’s into the match now, and increasingly it’s of the ilk he desires it to be. But as I type, he runs out of position, so we’re back playing safety.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (1-0) Mark wobbles a long starter into right corner but lands snookered on a colour; he jokes he’s going for yellow, completely inaccessible, and after much classic Crucible mirth, he plays safe off the black.
We go again…
Williams 1-3 Zhao (51-28) Zhao leaves a cut-back, Mark sends it home dead slow, and when asked to pot another ball to make sure, he strokes a beauty into left corner then doubles the blue to make sure. He needed that badly, and we’ll be back in 15. Both men look to be feeling it.
Williams 0-3 Zhao (51-28) Ooooh, but Zhao quickly finds on, white behind black with brown just off the baulk cushion; Mark hits well.
Williams 0-3 Zhao (51-28) Mark goes almost enough, clearing to the brown then playing safe with one snooker required
Williams 0-3 Zhao (34-28) A cut-back to left corner, though, won’t be easy, and when Mark misses it he leaves a tester to right corner; most important shot of the match so far coming up. And Zhou strikes home a beauty, then goes at a black to middle … but this is a very poor effort. Mark understandably started badly – last night will have taken plenty out of him – and he might just’ve brought Zhao down to his level. This should be TWPM on the board.
Williams 0-3 Zhao (24-21) A poor shot leaves Zhao low on the blue so he goes at brown to the yellow … and it stays out, the brown making bridging sufficiently awkward such that Mark opts against taking on a pot. Which, this game being this game, turns out to be good news, because after Zhao gets away via fluke, he misses broon to middle, leaving a scoring chance.
Williams 0-3 Zhao (16-19) Mark takes on a cross-double, side rail to right corner, as a shot to nothing, and it’s there. Then, with nothing on, he nuzzles into the brown; Zhao’s escape is good enough, and we’re back playing safety, the phase in which you feel he must dominate if he’s to win this match. He cannot, though, win this exchange, leaving a starter, and this is a crucial visit (to the table) coming up.
Williams 0-3 Zhao (15-0) He cannot, a horrible positional shot forcing him to play safe.
Williams 0-3 Zhao (14-0) Zhao misses to right corner, so Mark gets away to left. This is a chance to exorcise the disappointment of the previous frame, but can he pot well enough for long enough?
Williams 0-3 Zhao Believe! Mark will feel pretty poorly having lost frame; rightly so. He’s under big pressure to take the final frame of the mini-sesh; if he doesn’t, he’s in big trouble.
Williams 0-2 Zhao (41-40) Zhao leaves a cuttable green to right-middle; Mark tickles home, then kisses blue in between white and brown; he escapes his own snooker well. But he leaves a long brown; this’d be some shot if Zhao can cut it into right corner … and it is some shot! He is some player! But the blue, a cut-back to the yellow bag, is a munter, and the pink’s on the side, way down in baulk … oh and have a look! First he pots and gets position, then slots pink and comes back up the table to get on to the black! He is so, so good … AND THEN HE MISSES THE MUCH EASIER BALL! This game, my friends, this game. So Mark faces a long, long diag for the frame … and he can’t see it away. Can Zhao sink the cut-back and keep the white out of the middle?
Williams 0-2 Zhao (41-25) The last red is on the side and Mark leaves himself a double on it … which stays out! Zhao can slide this to right-middle, a real tester … and that’s right in the heart of the pocket! The Welsh Potting Machine will feel in need of a service if this one sneaks away from him, but a fly halts the clear-up, then it’s a cut to left corner … which leaps out of the jaws. The frame remains in the balance, both players now looking nervous.
Williams 0-2 Zhao (33-17) Mark goes at another skinny one, leaving a brutally straight diag almost the full length of the table; Zhao drills it home and has the cue-power to bring the white back. Like everyone, sometimes he’s good and other times less so, but I’ve yet to appraise a weakness. He can’t, though, fashion a proper chance, plays a poor safety, and when Mark punishes that oversight, the escape leaves a cut to left corner.
Williams 0-2 Zhao (33-8) Mark looks at jamming in behind a red on black cush from on top … and that’s a glorious pot. The frame is opening out for him, but there’s work to do yet, all the more so when a poor positional shot means he’s got to use the rest for the black … and he can’t poke it down. No matter: though he misses a thin contact, leaving one to the yellow bag when he hits, Zhao can’t slide it long, Mark soon snicks in a starter then plays safe off the green ,hoping to force an error. There are four reds remaining.
Williams 0-2 Zhao (13-4) Gosh, Mark wants to win this frame and wants to win it now. He takes on a pair of mid-rangers rather than sit down, then loos at taking one from the tip of the cluster into left corner, knowing he’s sending claret all over … and that’s beautifully done. But dare he go at a brown to middle? You betcha! But he hits the far jaw, leaves a chance … and Zhao misses pink to middle. He’ll not have expected that reprieve, and must now make something of it.
Williams 0-2 Zhao (1-3) Andrew Benton emails thusly: “Just to note that Zhao is his surname, Xintong his first names, so it’d be: Williams 0-1 Zhao. Chinese names usually have the surname first.” Thanks, you’re not the first to message on this point; i guess in the snooker world, for whatever reason it’s been flip-turned upside down, with Chinese players referred to by their surnames, but as first names – your Ding Junhuis, Xu Sis, Pang Junxus and Wu Yizes of this world. Wu, by the way, is every bit as talented as Zhao – he pushed Mark hard in round one – he just needs to lift his mental game to the same stratosphere as his technical game. As soon as he does, he’ll start winning the bigguns and maybe even before. Meantime, Mark leaves a nasty one near left corner, Zhao pumps it home … then massively underdoes a cut-back along the side that doesn’t get that close to left corner. Can Mark capitalise?
Williams 0-2 Xintong Zhao removes the balls, finishing with a ton. Already, you feel Mark must win one of the next two.
The first time they met 🤩
An exhibition we organised for Mark in China. Xintong won 2-1 making a century break🔥🔥🔥
Zhao Xintong was 13 pic.twitter.com/lgFKf5FnHs
— Vic Snooker Academy (@Vics_Snooker) May 4, 2025
Williams 0-1 Zhao (38-44) Zhao forges in front and there’s no sense he’s going to miss. He is very, very special.
Williams 0-1 Xintong (38-28) “Unreported Mark Williams stat,” begins Gregory Phillip, also class of ’92 (South East Essex Sixth Form College). “Or, to make it clickbait: YOU WOnT BELIEVE THIS STAT ABOUT MARK WILLIAMS!!! If he wins, he will obliterate the record for longest gap between first and last world championship wins, even going back to the Joe & Fred Davis challenger era.
In fact, he’s already equalled the longest span between final appearances at 26 years: Fred Davis between 1940 and 1966. Williams is a marvel, and yet this could be the dawn of the Xintong era.”
I strongly fancy Zhao, I must say and, as I type, he outlasts Mark in a safety exchange – a very good sign –picking a plant to middle before beginning the routine task – for him – of clearing enough balls to take the frame.
Williams 0-1 Xintong (38-0) Mark breaks pack off black … and it doesn’t go well, so that’s end of break. Zhao, incidentally, plays that shot better than anyone I’ve ever seen, especially off that black – a harder task than from the other end, off the blue. Watch out for it as the match progresses.
Williams 0-1 Xintong (15-0) Zhao plays into the pack and back to baulk, leaving a red stuck to the side rail just above left corner. Mark didn’t turn many down against Judd but if he can’t force this home he’s leaving loads … but he does. Also in that match, though, both players missed balls you didn’t expect them to, often soon after nailing a banger … and as I type, TWPM jiggers one you don’t expect him to … then Zhao does the same, leaving a second chance for Mark to accumulate.
Williams 0-1 Xintong “He does look born to play here,” says Stephen, as Zhao clears the colours, adding a 77 to his 51, and his imperviousness to pressure is almost disquieting.
Williams 0-0 Xintong (0-65) Mark goes at a longun but can’t clip from middle to left corner, and that’ll surely be the frame.
Williams 0-0 Xintong (0-64) Email! “Battle of the dragons: Chinese v Welsh,” begins Andrew Goudie. “I hope they’ve invited Tony Drago(n) from Malta, also famous for having a dragon on its flag.” And the quickest player ever; him and Jimmy White were quite the doubles partnership. Anyroad, Zhao flukes a red, snuggles up to the brown, and Mark misses his escape … twice … thrice … before hitting. There are 85 points left on the table.
Williams 0-0 Xintong (0-51) The last qualifier to win the worlds was Shaun Murphy in 2025, but Zhao’s started like he means it. He breaks the pack nicely … then a lax positional shot means end of break; he does well not to attempt a wild pot, fired by disappointment, and to play a decent safety.
Williams 0-0 Xintong (0-22) “I’m always tinged with jealousy in my feelings when I’m in the box, not at the table,” says Stephen; the old mongrel never leaves. Then, off the break, Mark goes at a loose one, misses, and that is going to cost him. Zhao’s been so good in the balls this last fortnight, playing with rare power and precision, but the pressure he’s under now, seeking to become China’s first world champion, is of an entirely different order to anything he’s experienced before. But he seems entirely unaffected and already seems to fashioning a frame-winning opportunity.
Our boyz baize! I cannot wait for this, and what an atmosphere in the Cruce. Zhao and Mark shake hands over the little lady, then it’s time to get going, The Cyclone to break.
Rob Walker has on his best tweed three-piece – he’s just so simultanouelsy classy and zany, I thought to myself when I saw it – and he’ll soon have stopped banging on, allowing us to enjoy the match.
Our players are ready to come out. Zhao is 28 but could pass for 18; Mark is 50, but could easily pass for 55.
I’m watching on BBC because somehow it feels right, but if it’s serious analysis you’re after, TNT/Discovery do that much better.
Judd Trump, then. I must say i thought this time, more than any other time, he’d get it right. He’s been so, so good this season and, as the draw opened out, it became increasingly difficult to see who’d beat him – every time he was challenged before the semi, particularly against Luca Brecel in the last eight, he stomped on the gas and tore off into the distance. I actually thought, when he led 5-3 after the first session, that the lead would be definitive, because he’d hit a seam at some point in the second and full away. And you can be sure I said that in full knowledge of Mark J’s genius; I just relied on Judd’s being geniuser. It’s unbelievable that a player of his standard, who’s dominated the tour over several years, only has one of these; he’ll be back, and much as he protests to the contrary, he knows that the world title is the ultimate, however many various ranking titles he collects.
I see both sides.
Preamble
We say this every year, but it bears annual repetition. In life, there are few things – or people – or divinities – on which we can rely never, ever to disappoint us. But the World Snooker Championships are one such, and the last fortnight has bestowed upon us another jazzer.
That’s not to say it’s the same vibe every year, far from it. Once upon a time, this tournament confirmed the identity of the best player in the world – Steve Davis through the 80s, Stephen Hendry the 90s – but now, though Judd Trump has dominated the last few years, he’s won this trophy only once because he standard is so high anyone in the field can beat anyone else in the field.
As such, we’ve had six different world champions in the last seven years, three of them first-time winners. It’s unlikely many, if any of us, expected to spend the bank holiday weekend obsessed with Zhao Xintong v Mark J Williams.
Which is to say that nowadays, our tournament does still confirms the identity of the best player in the world, but only during these last two weeks. In theory, this is a lesser outcome – our players come and go, so don’t represent our family heritage in the way our teams do – but in practice, even individual sport isn’t solely about facts, rather about people and their stories, which exist in thrillingly inexhaustible supply.
In any case, it doesn’t really make sense to say Mark J Williams comes and goes, given he first contested a final in 1999, then picked up the pot in 2000. Except it also kind of does, given he was set to quit the game in 2018, disgusted by the waning of his considerable powers. But his wife, Jo, persuaded him to continue, he miraculously, affirmingly, snaffled the title for the third time, and since then has re-established himself as part of the elite, a one-off technician with a unique snooker brain, and one of the greatest big-match temperaments we’ve ever seen – in any sport. Already an indisputable great of the game, a fourth biggun would take him level with John Higgins and Mark Selby in the all-time list and make him the oldest world champ ever; what honours those’d be.
Standing in his way, though, is a redemption tale of mythological proportions. Zhao Xintong exploded into our consciousness in 2021-22, winning the UK Championships followed by the German Masters six weeks later. His long-to-mid-range potting was barely believable in the ferocity of its accuracy, so too his coruscating calm … and then, in 2023, he was suspended pending a match-fixing investigation, eventually receiving a 20-month ban for being party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself. No, it wasn’t pretty; yes, he was young.
Since returning to the game, Zhao has devastated almost everything in his path – most recently Ronnie O’Sullivan – and arrives at this final in sensational form. But Mark J has made a career out of extinguishing exactly that, so turn on the telly, draw the curtains, and for the next two days, shut out everything that isn’t this. You’ll not regret it.
Start: 1pm BST
