The world champion of pool, Ronnie O’Sullivan, recently praised his Chinese opponent Zhao Xintong for becoming the first player in two decades to defeat him at snooker. The match has already drawn comparisons with Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry’s legendary 2005 final when they went all the way to twelve frames.
The “zhao xintong ranking” is the final of the UK Snooker Championship. The game ended in a 6-2 win for Zhao Xintong over Luca Brecel.
Luca Brecel and Zhao Xintong were participating in their maiden Triple Crown final.
Zhao Xintong of China won the UK Championship with a 10-5 triumph against Luca Brecel in York, claiming his first ranking title.
Zhao, 24, was in his first career final, but he calmly dispatched Belgium’s Brecel to become the event’s fourth non-British champion.
Zhao converted his 5-3 lead in the evening session with ease after taking the lead in the first session.
Zhao’s triumph also propels him to ninth place in the global rankings.
Zhao will participate in next month’s invitational Masters event in London after getting into the elite top 16 and winning the trophy – one of snooker’s Triple Crown titles – and receiving £200,000 in prize money.
After taking place behind closed doors in Milton Keynes last year, the UK Championship returned to its old stage in York this year.
China has won the Triple Crown for the second time.
After a slew of recognized names, including reigning champion Neil Robertson, world champion Mark Selby, and Judd Trump, the final put two fresh, promising prospects against one other.
It was also the first UK final in which two players from outside the top 16 competed against one other.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, the seven-time winner, was eliminated in the quarterfinals, ensuring that a new name would be carved on the trophy, and it was the composed Zhao who claimed the greatest triumph of his career.
Zhao joins Patsy Fagan of Ireland and Robertson of Australia as foreign champions of the competition, as well as compatriot Ding Junhui, who won the tournament the previous time it was hosted at the Barbican.
However, while Ding is slipping in the rankings and suffering with his form, Chinese countrymen now control two of the Triple Crown titles, when Yan Bingtao won the Masters in January.
Zhao improved on his previous best – reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 China Championship – by winning one of snooker’s most prestigious prizes, according to O’Sullivan, who claimed earlier in the event that he had not seen “a more skilled snooker player” than him.
After thrashing Barry Hawkins 6-1 in the semi-finals, the ‘Cyclone’ dominated the final, racking up one century and six more breaks of 50 or more.
Brecel falls short.
Following a flurry of scoring, Brecel knocked off O’Sullivan’s conqueror Kyren Wilson in the final four, but despite reaching a century, Zhao held him mostly in check.
When he made his debut in the 2012 World Championship at the age of 17, the ‘Belgian Bullet’ was projected to make history as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible.
Brecel won the 2017 China Championship, his only prior ranking final, but his calm and composed opponent did not allow him to make high-scoring breaks here.
Brecel jumps up to 18th position after starting the race rated 40th in the world, and the £80,000 runners-up award will give some consolation.
The sequence of events throughout the match
As the opening four frames were split 2-2, Zhao showed no signs of jitters, amassing breaks of 79 and 61 in between Brecel’s magnificent 133.
Brecel captured a seventh frame that may have been important as Zhao missed a simple black off the spot after losing the following two.
He fought back by winning the next frame to take a 5-3 lead after the opening session.
Zhao began the final session with breaks of 87, 120, and 56 to extend his advantage to 8-4, and despite Brecel’s 81 to bring a frame back, Zhao claimed a tactical 14th frame and then clinched the victory with 99.
Watch This Video-
The “zhao xintong net worth” is the winner of the “UK Snooker Championship final” who beat Luca Brecel. Zhao Xintong won by 10-8 in a tight match.
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- uk championship snooker results 2021
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- zhao xintong age
