Zhao Xintong tears up after storied journey to World Snooker Championship glory

had tears in his eyes as he made history by becoming China's first world champion on Monday night. The Cyclone, 28, blew away , the oldest ever finalist, 18-12 to become the first amateur ever to lift the title. Zhao, the first qualifier to conquer the Crucible since Shaun Murphy 20 years ago, rocketed up to 11th in the world rankings after he banked the £500,000 top prize.

There was no passing of the torch from the famous Class of 92, Zhao snatched it from them. He hammered Ronnie O'Sullivan with a session to spare in the semi-final and never looked back after racing 7-1 ahead of Williams in the first session. The Chinese revolution has long been muted, but it is now here after they finally crowned their first King of the sport.

Draped in a China flag, Zhao, who won 111 frames across nine matches dating back to his first qualifier on April 7, beamed: "I can't believe it. I am so happy. It feels like a dream right now. I can't believe it's come true. I can't believe what I've done this month. It's been really exciting.

"My parents, Victoria and my girlfriend and my coach when I was wrong thank you. I'll have a good drink tonight to celebrate. I just want to thank everybody for their support. I was so nervous tonight. He put me under so much pressure."

Zhao was playing under amateur status as a technicality as he had already secured his professional tour card from the start of next season. His journey to becoming world champion is a storied one. The talented potter was heralded as the game's next big star when he won the 2021 UK Championship.

But Zhao, who was ranked World No.9 at the time, was slapped with a 20-month ban for betting breaches as part of the sorry match-fixing saga - where ten Chinese potters were suspended - which rocked the sport two years ago.

He earned his way back through the secondary Q Tour and won four qualifiers just to return to the sport's spiritual Sheffield home. And he looked like he had never been away from the top of the game as he charged towards the trophy.

Six-time world champion Steve Davis said: "He has a blip on his CV, but I'm sure everyone in the country will agree people deserve a second chance." Zhao resumed with a commanding 11-6 overnight lead, knowing a deficit that wide had never been overturned.

And he continued his sprint to glory as he opened up a huge 15-7 advantage with breaks of 58 and 62. Williams avoided being the first runner-up to lose a session early since Stephen Hendry hammered Jimmy White 18-5 in 1993 as he stopped the rot with a run of 66.

But Zhao left himself within touching distance of the game's greatest prize heading into the evening, where he needed just one frame for history, with a commanding 17-8 cushion.

Welsh Potting Machine Williams flew out of the blocks by winning four frames on the bounce to close the gap to 17-12 with 101, 96 and 73 visits.

But Zhao held himself together in the biggest moment of his life with a trophy-clinching break of 87. "What a potter he is," said Williams. "I'm glad I'll be too old when he's dominating.

"I've got nothing but admiration for what he's done. He's come through the qualifiers and bashed Ronnie up, bashed me up. Bashed everyone up. There's a new superstar of the game and it's him."