Zhao Xintong
Born | 3 April 1997 (age 19) Xi’an, Shaanxi |
---|---|
Sport country | China |
Professional | 2016– |
Career winnings | £32,400[1] |
Highest break | 145 (2015 World Under-21 Championship) |
Century breaks | 9 |
Best ranking finish | Last 16 (2013 International Championship) |
Zhao Xintong (born 3 April 1997 in Xi’an) is a Chinese professional snooker player, widely considered one of the most promising upcoming snooker talents.[2]
Contents
Career
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"This boy was astonishingly good and better than anybody I have ever seen at that age - and that includes Ronnie O'Sullivan!"
— Steve Davis[3]
Zhao Xintong first drew international attention in June 2012 at the Zhangjiagang Open defeating high ranking players Xiao Guodong and Yu Delu to reach the last 16 of the tournament where he narrowly lost to 4–3 Stephen Lee. Zhao would build on this success by reaching the second round of Asian Tour Events the Yixing Open and Zhengzhou Open.
As a wildcard entrant he defeated former World Champion Ken Doherty in the International Championship to reach the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time, again narrowly losing in a final frame decider to 6–5 Matthew Stevens. Having also earned he way to the last 32 of the World Open and China Open, Zhao started gaining the reputation of the Wildcard Menace.[2]
In 2013, at the International Championship, he beat six-time World Champion Steve Davis 6–1 who later commented: 'This boy was astonishingly good and better than anybody I have ever seen at that age - and that includes Ronnie O'Sullivan!'[3] He went on to reach the third round of the competition before losing 6–2 to Marco Fu, however he would go on to avenge this loss by defeating Fu in the first round of the 2014 Shanghai Masters.[4] Zhao entered the World Amateur Championship in late 2013 reaching the final, however he lost to his fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong 8–4 and thus missed out on a chance to join the world snooker main tour for the 2014/2015 season.[5]
2015/2016 season
Zhao entered several events in an attempt to qualify for the 2015/2016 season. He was narrowly defeated in the first round of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship. Xintong won three games in the first event of Q School before losing 4–3 to Alexander Ursenbacher in the penultimate round. In the second event Zhao got extremely close to qualifying for the main tour managing to reach the final round before losing before losing 4–3 to Duane Jones in a black ball finish in the deciding frame.[6]
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament | 2012/ 13 |
2013/ 14 |
2014/ 15 |
2015/ 16 |
2016/ 17 |
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Ranking[7][nb 1] | UR[nb 2] | UR[nb 2] | UR[nb 2] | UR[nb 2] | UR[nb 3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Riga Masters[nb 4] | Not Held | Minor-Ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Open | NH | A | A | NH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open[nb 5] | 1R | WR | Not Held | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hunter Classic | Minor-Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shanghai Masters | WR | WR | 2R | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Championship | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Open | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International Championship | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish Open | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | A | A | A | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scottish Open | MR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German Masters | A | A | A | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welsh Open | A | A | A | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 6] | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Open | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | A | A | A | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking & variant format tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoot-Out | Variant Format Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wuxi Classic | A | WR | 3R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Goldfields Open | A | A | A | LQ | NH |
Performance Table Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
- ↑ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 He was an amateur.
- ↑ New players don't have a ranking.
- ↑ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
- ↑ The event was called the Haikou World Open (2012/2013–2013/2014)
- ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
Tournament finals
Amateur
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
Runner-up | 1 | 2013 | IBSF World Snooker Championship | Zhou Yuelong | 4–8 |
Runner-up | 2 | 2015 | IBSF World Snooker Championship | Pankaj Advani | 6–8 |
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Davis 2015, p. 352.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Zhao Xintong at CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database