Zhao Xintong

Zhao Xintong
Born 3 April 1997 (age 19)
Xi’an, Shaanxi
Sport country  China
Professional 2016–
Current ranking 85 (as of 31 October 2016)
Career winnings £52,387[1]
Highest break 145 (2015 World Under-21 Championship)
Century breaks 17
Best ranking finish Last 16 (2013 International Championship)

Zhao Xintong (born 3 April 1997 in Xi’an) is a Chinese professional snooker player, widely considered one of the most promising upcoming snooker talents.[2]

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[3]

Zhao Xintong first drew international attention in June 2012 at the Zhangjiagang Open defeating high ranking players Xiao Guodong and Yu Delu to reach the last 16 of the tournament where he narrowly lost to 4–3 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 to 6–5 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.[2]

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!'[3] 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] 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 2014/2015 season.[5]

2014/2015 season

Zhao entered several events in an attempt to qualify for the 2015/2016 season. He was narrowly defeated in the first round of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship. Xintong 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 before losing 4–3 to Duane Jones in a black ball finish in the deciding frame.[6][7]

2015/2016 season

Zhao's high Q School Order of Merit ranking gave him entry as a top up player to many events in the 2015/2016 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]

2016/2017 season

For his first appearance as a professionnal player, Zhao met Ronnie O'Sullivan. What will last in memories is his first frame with an 130 point clearance and two centuries in this 7-frame match. The match was epic with several opportunities to win, especially in the two last frames. Zhao's placed game was terrific, playing as fast as The Rocket (under 15 seconds per shot). Ultimately defeated 3-4 by O'Sullivan, this match announced a great future for this player (commentators said he played like a Top 8 player), especially if he improves his defense and is not as aggressive on key points.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2012/
13 		2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17
Ranking[12][nb 1] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 3]
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 4] Not Held Minor-Ranking 2R
Indian Open NH A A NH 1R
World Open[nb 5] 1R WR Not Held LQ
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 2R
Shanghai Masters WR WR 2R A LQ
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R
International Championship 1R 3R 2R 1R 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R
UK Championship A A A 1R 2R
Scottish Open MR Tournament Not Held
German Masters A A A 1R
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ
Welsh Open A A A 1R
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 6] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
China Open 1R 1R 1R LQ
World Championship A A A LQ
Ranking & variant format tournaments
Shoot-Out Variant Format Event
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic A WR 3R Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A A LQ NH
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. 1 2 3 4 He was an amateur.
  3. ↑ New players don't have a ranking.
  4. ↑ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  5. ↑ The event was called the Haikou World Open (2012/2013–2013/2014)
  6. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)

Tournament finals

Amateur

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

References

  1. ↑ "Career-total Statistics for Zhao Xintong – Professional". CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 "ZHAO XINTONG TARGETS PRO PLACE BY 2015". inside-snooker.com. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 Davis 2015, p. 352.
  4. ↑ "Marco Fu crashes out of Shanghai Masters after shock defeat to Zhao Xintong". MailOnline. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 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". burtonmail.co.uk. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "Zhao Xintong 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Bingham Falls to Delu". World Snooker. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Zhao Xintong 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Pankaj crowned with World Snooker title". IBSF. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Chinese Duo to Turn Professional". World Snooker. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links

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