China’s Zhao Xintong 7-1 up against Mark Williams in final of snooker worlds
SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — Zhao Xintong dominated Mark Williams in the opening session of the world snooker championship final on Sunday, running up a 7-1 lead in his bid to become the first Chinese winner of the sport’s biggest prize.
Zhao, who thrashed seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 17-7 in the semifinals, was in complete control at the Crucible Theatre against another great of the game, with Williams a three-time champion and playing the final at the age of 50.
The 28-year-old Zhao won each of the first three frames to set the tone in the best-of-35-frames match and has made two centuries so far.
He is the firm favorite to become just the third player in history to win the worlds after coming through qualification.
Zhao is playing as an amateur in Sheffield, having only recently returned to competitive action following a 20-month ban for his role in the sport’s biggest match-fixing scandal. He was ranked No. 9 in the world when his suspension began after accepting charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.
Zhao has been free to play since his ban expired in September and, in January, secured a return to snooker’s main professional tour for next season.
The only other Chinese player to have reached the final of the worlds is Ding Junhui, who in 2016 lost to Mark Selby 18-14. Ding is the trailblazer for a raft of Chinese players — one of them being Zhao — to have burst through, making the sport huge in their homeland.
The second of four possible sessions in the final takes place later Sunday with nine more frames.
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