Zhao Xintong reached the final of the 2025 Snooker World Championships, O'Sullivan: His victory is well deserved

In the early morning of May 3, Beijing time, the 2025 World Snooker Championship will start the third stage of the semifinals. As a result, China's Zhao Xintong won five games on top of eight consecutive games in the second stage, and finally defeated seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 17-7 to reach the final. The 28-year-old became only the second Asian player to reach the final in Crucible, nine years after another Chinese player, Ding Junhui, lost to Mark Selby in the 2016 final.

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was blocked from the final by Zhao Xintong

At the end of the second period, Zhao Xintong led O'Sullivan 12-4. In the third stage, he scored 62 and 128 in a single stroke, crushing O'Sullivan's hopes of gaining momentum in the first two games of this stage. O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry currently hold the record of seven World Championships titles, and the "Rocket", who was not willing to be eliminated prematurely, won the first game after halftime, and Zhao Xintong has since shown the temperament to take over the game. In front of a group of spectators who overwhelmingly urged the 49-year-old O'Sullivan to play in the semifinals of this World Championships, Zhao Xintong scored 85, 63 and 88 points in a single stroke, sealing the most famous victory of his career.

In an interview with BBC Sports after the game, Zhao said: "I can't believe it. I need to say thank you to Ronnie because he's helped me a lot before. He's my idol. "It's my first time playing at a single table here, it's been a great time for me and I just want to enjoy it because I don't know how many times I'll be able to enjoy it here. I've played here and sometimes the crowd has been very helpful to Ronnie and he deserves it, he's a legend here, so I need to control myself. ”

Zhao Xintong's performance is amazing

In the second stage of the two, Zhao Xintong's performance was amazing, he directly blocked O'Sullivan 8-0 in this stage, becoming the fourth player to throw "8 consecutive whips" against O'Sullivan at the World Snooker Championships. It's reminiscent of the form he showed on his way to the 2021 British Championship title, and he was able to maintain that form later in the day, becoming only the second player since John Parrott in 1994 to beat O'Sullivan in one quarter at Snooker's most famous venue.

O'Sullivan has won a record 41 ranking matches and has made no secret of his struggles on the cue since he broke his old club in the Champions League in January. He took two clubs from different manufacturers to the first round of this World Championship against Ali Carter, and he has been tinkering ever since. That included him changing the leather head twice in the race against Zhao Xintong, as well as changing the ferrule from titanium to brass.

O'Sullivan was convinced

However, that didn't have the desired impact as he missed a series of chances and his opponent Zhao Xintong punished him in a ruthless manner. O'Sullivan said, "Zhao Xintong's victory is well deserved. I think he did a great job throughout the game, and it all goes down to Zhao Xintong (his touch). He played better than me. ”