Zhao Xintong has warned his snooker rivals that the reception he received upon first returning to China will only spur him to greater heights. Even though the new world champion is officially still banned from competing in Chinese competitions, he was given a hero’s welcome and swarmed by hundreds of fans at the airport.
Over 150 million people across the country watched Zhao become the first Asian winner at the Crucible, despatching Mark Williams with relative ease, having put Ronnie O’Sullivan to the sword in a similar fashion earlier in the competition.
He has followed in Ding Junhui’s footsteps and is now the poster child for snooker in China. The sport is booming, with 300,000 halls across the country, and an estimated 50 million people play it.
