- Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese player to win the World Championship
- Shortly afterwards, his opponent Mark Williams hit the bar despite his loss
- Zhao’s victory leaves a sour taste after he returned from a match-fixing ban
Snooker star Mark Williams shared photos of himself hitting the bar just hours after suffering defeat in the World Championship final to Zhao Xintong.
Xintong made snooker history on Monday night by becoming the first Chinese player to win the World Championship.
The 28-year-old secured a dominant 18-12 victory over Mark Williams which has, however, left a sour taste in the mouth of fans following his return from a match-fixing ban.
Just hours after Xintong’s victory, Williams took himself to the bar for a few drinks and left fans in stitches after sharing some hilarious posts on social media.
The 50-year-old’s first post saw him posing with two pints of Guinness in his hands. It was captioned: ‘thanks for all thensupport heblast 17 days, tome forncouoke guinessesss now . #seeyouallnexraeason’.
It’s appears that Williams was thanking fans for their support throughout the tournament before announcing that he was spending the rest of the night drinking.
Snooker star Mark Williams hit the bar after his defeat in the World Championship final
Zhao Xintong is the first amateur and Chinese player to win the World Snooker Championship
Williams, who was defeated convincingly in the final, hailed Zhao as a ‘new superstar of the game’ and ‘as good to watch as Ronnie O’Sullivan when he was younger’
The 50-year-old kept to his word as the night progressed and shortly after he shared a picture alongside Xintong where he jokingly posed as if he were punching his counterpart.
The caption read: ‘look at this lucky little xxxxxx i bumped into.’
Xintong was evidently playing along with the joke as he posed for the picture while holding onto his World Championship trophy.
Williams ended his social media antics with a post at 12:23am, which read: ‘Last one I’m off to bed’. Accompanying the post was a picture of a tray of shots.
Xintong win over Williams was a landmark moment for the sport, it was hardly something to celebrate given he has recently returned from a match-fixing ban.
Zhao, as his supporters have been keen to point out, did not directly throw a match, unlike the other nine Chinese stars sanctioned in 2023 following a major corruption investigation.
However, the Cyclone was party to another player fixing and placed illegal bets on games, earning him a 20-month suspension which only lifted last September.
Zhao is the first amateur to ever win the world title here, having been dumped from the professional tour because of his ban.
He is also just the third qualifier to triumph at the Crucible, after Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy, and he won nine matches and 111 frames to do so, more than anybody has ever had to do.
Williams shared a picture alongside Xintong where he jokingly posed as if he were punching his counterpart
In his final post on social media, William shared a picture of a tray of shots before going to bed
Amazingly, Zhao’s victory over three-time world champion Williams was his 47th in 49 matches since he returned to the table at a low-key Q Tour event in Bulgaria less than eight months ago.
His second Triple Crown title, after the UK Championship in 2021, also elevates him to 11 in the world rankings and sees him bank £500,000. Based on what we have seen in Sheffield, Zhao could go on to dominate the game for years to come.
‘I can’t believe what I have done, it is like a dream,’ said Zhao, who held aloft a Chinese flag in celebration at a win which was watched by an estimated 150 million in his homeland.
‘I am so happy that I am back. For nearly two years I didn’t play a competition, so my first target was just to qualify for the Crucible. I can’t believe that I am now the champion. It is very good for Chinese snooker.’
