Jak Jones is in danger of an early exit from the World Snooker Championship, as China’s Zhao Xintong produced a sensational scoring display to lead 7-2 in their first-round match at the Crucible Theatre.
Jones, 31, made a surprise run to last year’s final in Sheffield, losing to Kyren Wilson.
The 16th seed from Wales knocked in a 99 break to take the third frame but was punished by the 2021 UK Championship winner for costly early misses.
Zhao made a 142 clearance in frame five – the highest break of the tournament so far – and six half-centuries in the first session.
Jones took the last frame with a break of 70, but Zhao will need just three more frames for victory when they resume on Monday.
The winner will face Lei Peifan, who knocked out defending champion Wilson on Saturday, in the last 16.
Zhao, 28, is competing as an amateur at the World Championship but breezed through qualifying and is among the favourites to lift the trophy on 5 May.
Zhao was one of 10 players banned in 2023 following an investigation into match-fixing.
He did not directly throw a match but was initially suspended for two and a half years, reduced to 20 months after his early admissions and guilty plea – he accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.
Zhao completed his suspension earlier this season and his performances on the Q Tour have earned him a spot back among the professional ranks for 2025-26.
Meanwhile, China’s Xiao Guodong beat England’s Matthew Selt 10-4 to secure a second-round meeting with either John Higgins or Joe O’Connor.
Leading 7-2 overnight, the world number 14 lost the opening two frames of the concluding session but then won three in a row to reach the last 16.
From 14:30 BST, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen begins his bid for a first world title against Fan Zhengyi as he aims to complete a full set of Triple Crown event victories, while Wales’ three-time champion Mark Williams takes a 5-4 lead into the final session of his first-round match against Wu Yize.
Schedule: Sunday, 20 April
10:00
Jak Jones (16) 2-7 Zhao Xintong – resumes at 10:00 BST on Monday
Xiao Guodong (14) 10-4 Matthew Selt
14:30
Mark Allen (8) v Fan Zhengyi
Mark Williams (6) 5-4 Wu Yize
19:00
Neil Robertson (9) 2-7 Chris Wakelin
Barry Hawkins (11) 5-4 Hossein Vafaei
