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Zhao Xintong is leading Mark Williams in the final - PA/Mike Egerton
Mark Williams will have to mount a fightback for the ages if he is to win his fourth world title, after succumbing to an outstanding display of snooker by Zhao Xintong, the rising star of the game, who has raced into a 7-1 lead in the final at The Crucible.
Zhao, who overwhelmed Ronnie O’Sullivan 17-7 in the semi-final, put on another masterclass of potting to establish a six-frame lead, punishing Williams for missed long shots in the early stages and settling the quicker of the two players with a century in the second frame.
After narrowly missing out in a cagey third frame, when his missed final black denied him the chance to halve the deficit, Williams clinched a scrappy fourth frame to trail 3-1 after the opening session.
But Zhao moved through the gears after the restart, growing in confidence by taking on risky shots, which, when they failed to land, went unpunished by Williams. A case in point was frame six, when Zhao attempted an unnecessary double on the red, only for Williams to falter on 61 – his biggest break of the final so far. After overcutting the final red he opened the door for his opponent to clean up.
Emboldened by his approach Zhao rattled off the remaining frames of the session, including another century and a 95 in the final frame founded on perhaps the shot of the tournament – a long-distance plant which never looked on.
Perhaps Williams can take heart from Denis Taylor’s memorable victory in the 1985 final when he rallied after trailing Steve Davis by seven frames, but the Welshman will need to seriously up his game if he is to claw his way back into contention.
The blog will resume for the evening session at 7pm.
04:15 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 7
Zhao has zero fear.
Williams has him apparently trapped against the baulk cushion and so he decides the shot of choice should be a plant which looks geometrically impossible. Of course, it goes in. And that is a quite remarkable shot!
I suppose when you are five frames up you feel invincible and at the moment that’s exactly what Zhao is. He cuts a red which dies into the pocket and the only blemish is a missed red when another century was on.
Williams must just be desperate to exit the arena at this point. He is being trounced by a young, fearless opponent. And to think he is still an amateur! Who cam through qualifying!
Frame 8 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 95
04:05 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 6
Zhao flukes yet another red but I suppose fortune favours the brave.
He pots the black but then has to resort to a safety and he ties up Williams with a horrible snooker.
Williams finds the pack at the second attempt and a game of cat and mouse begins.
Frame 8 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 12
04:01 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 6
Zhao must be thinking this Crucible business is a walk in the park.
The problem is he knows he can go for his shots and if he misses he won’t be punished for it.
A perfect scenario for a player with his predilection for attacking snooker.
Zhao has to play some awkward bridging shots but it doesn’t faze him.
He knows this frame is in the bag. Especially when he nearly goes in-off but instead benefits from the cue ball bouncing off the jaw of the middle pocket and lining up the black nicely.
Now he switches hands as if to prove Stephen Hendry, who had said it was the one thing he couldn’t do, wrong.
His cueing is quite brilliant just now and he sends the final red away despite being tucked up on the side cushion.
Zhao’s second century of the break puts him five clear. Williams has it all to do here.
Frame 7 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 119
Zhao wins the frame.
03:52 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 5
Zhao plays a careless safety, leaving a tricky red on for Williams. The Welshman, though, misses narrowly and the Chinese cueman gets the rub of the green.
More importantly, he can leap into a six-frame lead if he plays his cards right.
But he doesn’t. The blue jumps out of the middle pocket and Williams can see a red.
But he misses! Williams is all at sea today!
Frame 7 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 15
03:45 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 5
Williams goes into automatic pilot and compiles his highest break so far, of 61, which isn’t difficult, as he had only mustered a 30 up to this point.
He is starting to cue a lot better now but there are two reds still to dispatch and they are both close to the bottom cushion.
Williams leaves himself a really tough red into the bottom left and overcuts it. That’s terrible!
Zhao must have thought the frame was gone after his ill-fated double on the red but his opponent has left him off the hook. He clears up every ball but the black and he’s four clear!
Shocker from Williams.
Frame 6 (best of 35): Mark Williams 61 Zhao Xintong 71
Zhao wins the frame.
03:37 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 4
Zhao attempts to double a red but misses. He has left a tricky red on, and Williams nails it!
The reds are well spread so the Welshman has a golden chance to make hay here.
Frame 6 (best of 35): Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 37
03:35 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 4
Zhao’s long potting is back on point and he’s away again, on track for another big break, it seems.
A feature of Zhao’s breaks is that he frequently gets out of position, but his potting is so good he trusts himself to sink the next ball.
Poor shot selection ends this break at 37, though, as his attempt to split the reds does not work out for him.
Frame 6 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 37
03:31 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 4
A brilliant pot by Zhao settles matters and restores his three-frame lead.
That will have taken the wind out of the Welshman’s sails a tad.
Frame 5 (best of 35): Mark Williams 49 Zhao Xintong 77
Zhao wins the frame.
03:29 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 3
Williams needs snookers with just the colours left and to compound his problems somehow goes in off into the middle pocket. He now needs three snookers. And he plays one of them to perfection. Zhao plays a careless, rushed shot to give four points back to his opponent, who plays another treacherous snooker.
Williams decides to pot the yellow, green and brown because a foul on the blue will leave him requiring fewer snooker. It’s becoming just the tactical battle Williams relishes.
Frame 5 (best of 35): Mark Williams 49 Zhao Xintong 72
03:24 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 3
Another spectacular plant of two reds by Zhao leaves him with a tricky brown into the middle pocket, which he executes majestically.
He’s up and running again and Williams will be kicking himself for not converting his big-break chance.
Zhao splits the reds but is also unlucky, as he is left with only a long red into the top left pocket. He buries it beautifully. It was a pressure shot because had he missed Williams would have had a chance to clean up.
The 28-year-old crashes the blue into the middle pocket Jimmy White style to get himself out of a pickle and now the frame should be his.
The frame ball is not as easy at it should have been though and he misses it, due to a poor positional shot.
He’s lucky the cue ball is safe, though, and Williams fouls to gift his opponents a further six points.
Frame 5 (best of 35): Mark Williams 28 Zhao Xintong 68
03:17 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 3
Williams is starting to look more relaxed now.
Winning that frame before the interval undoubtedly settled him down but he is unlucky not to build a bigger break after his attempt to split the reds falls short. He attempts a double, but misses. The cue-ball is safe though.
Frame 5 (best of 35): Mark Williams 28 Zhao Xintong 5
03:13 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 3
Williams sinks a long red but there is no colour on.
More safety shots result in Williams committing a foul and a miss.
Zhao then attempts an ambitious double, which leaves a tricky cut on for Williams. But it wobbles in the pocket and stays up. The cue ball is safe though, and so a game of chess breaks out again – which might actually be Williams’ best route to victory. If he keeps Zhao from spending to much time at the table he may struggle to find his rhythm.
That’s a spectacular three-ball plant from Zhao! But there is no colour on. And in his frustration he makes a poor safety-shot choice, leaving a red on for Williams, who pots it. And now the Welshman has a chance to get going.
Frame 5 (best of 35): Mark Williams 2 Zhao Xintong 5
03:01 PM BST
Time for a cuppa
The players have left for the first interval.
They will either grab a bite to eat, a cup of tea or take to the practice table to try and shrug off any lingering nerves.
I wonder whether Zhao will get any tips from his hero, mentor and vanquished semi-final opponent Ronnie O’Sullivan.
02:49 PM BST
Mark Williams 1 Zhao Xintong 3
Williams gets out of the first tricky snooker.
And the second.
And then he flukes a snooker of his own while almost going in off.
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Mark Williams is finally off the mark - Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Williams pots the troublesome brown and leaves the blue over the pocket.
But Zhao doesn’t concede. His next attempt at a snooker is poor, though, and Williams scraps it out to pot the blue and take his first frame of the final. Bitty, scrappy, but Williams will be hugely relieved he is not 4-0 down.
Frame 4 (best of 35): Mark Williams 66 Zhao Xintong 28
Williams wins frame.
02:44 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 3
Zhao buries a delightful long red but misses the black into the middle.
He keeps missing cut shots into the centre pockets just now, which will come as a huge relief to Williams, who is not playing at all well.
Williams leaves himself a really tough yellow with the bridge, but he pots it. And the green.
One snooker needed for Zhao as Williams refuses to take on the brown. Will he regret that?
Frame 4 (best of 35): Mark Williams 51 Zhao Xintong 28
02:39 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 3
Zhao gets his cue-ball positioning wrong there, underhitting his shot on the red. He goes for a tougher brown with the blue at his mercy and misses! A loss of concentration there, but he is lucky as Williams has no shot on.
Zhao flukes a red again! But misses the green into the middle pocket. A tough cut, but Zhao has lost his rhythm slightly.
Williams needs to make this visit to the table count, to set his mind at ease. But he misses a tricky cut on the red.
Frame 4 (best of 35): Mark Williams 24 Zhao Xintong 21
02:34 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 3
A game of safety shots breaks out and you feel Williams is going to have to lean on his tactical prowess now.
He plays spectacular double shot on the red and then tucks Zhao up behind the brown.
Williams has a sight of a long red but misses. Oh dear. he was putting them away with his eyes closed yesterday.
The 50-year-old is wilting. He badly needs to get a frame on the board, but Zhao is at the table and building another break.
Frame 4 (best of 35): Mark Williams 16 Zhao Xintong 8
02:27 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 3
Zhao makes a rare mistake and leaves the red over the pocket.
Big chance to get back in for the Welshman, but there is a red hampering the black spot.
So Williams is focusing on the pink and blue at the moment.
But horrible cueing from Williams leaves him with no shot and so now he has to play safe.
Sloppy from Williams. Wasted chances.
Frame 4 (best of 35): Mark Williams 15 Zhao Xintong 0
02:24 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 3
Williams has a tricky long shot on the black for the frame.
But he misses it!
And Zhao cuts it back in to go three up!
He was rewarded for a brilliantly brave shot on the pink.
Now, can Williams collect himself?
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 44 Zhao Xintong 47
Zhao wins the frame.
02:22 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
That’s a sensational blue from Zhao but he’s nudge the pink ontp the side cushion, which he has rammed into the top pocket. Brilliant pot!
Black ball game But he misses the black!
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 44 Zhao Xintong 40
02:21 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Williams gets away with a risky shot that could have left the green over the poicket but it’s safe.
And Zhao leaves it in a cuttable position into the centre right pocket.
Williams pots it but snookers himself on the brown!
He leaves a tricky long shot on for Zhao but he buries it!
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 44 Zhao Xintong 29
02:17 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
It’s a case of ‘after you, Claude’ at the moment, but you have to say Williams’ need is the greater.
If he loses another frame will he unravel?
The players are exchanging safeties.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 41 Zhao Xintong 25
02:15 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Zhao pots a couple of balls but then is attacked by a fly, much to the amusement of the crowd.
And he misses the green.
But so does Williams! What was that?
The frame was there for the taking – from both players actually.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 41 Zhao Xintong 25
02:14 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
A poor safety by Zhao is punished by Williams, but the balls are not invitingly placed, so he tries to double back the red off the pocket into the middle.
So close, but it rattles the jaws of the pocket and suddenly Zhao is in.
Unnecessary that from Williams.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 40 Zhao Xintong 18
02:11 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Williams leaves a red over the pocket for Zhao to put away. It;s dead straight and so he has to put plenty of swazz on the shot. He does so with aplomb but makes a mess of positioning for the next red. He pots it but has to play safe.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 33 Zhao Xintong 17
02:09 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Zhao takes the long red on but misses. He’s started to look fallible all of a sudden.
Williams can just about see a long red which he cuts finely into the bottom right pocket.
But there is no shot on and a scrappy frame is reduced to safety play.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 33 Zhao Xintong 8
02:06 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Zhao tries to hammer the pink into the middle pocket but it stays above table, giving Williams an invitation to return.
Williams is unlucky with his shot on the yellow, as he is left with an almost impossible cut on the red, but he sinks it beautifully. Can he keep his cool and reduce the arrears?
No! He fluffs a black with the rest.
Zhao responds with a nasty snooker. Williams fouls.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 32 Zhao Xintong 8
02:00 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Williams gets out of position on his first shot which makes building a break difficult.
And indeed he can only muster seven points before having to play a safety.
But he sinks a long red to great applause to give himself another shot at a building a score.
He is really stretching on the first colour, the green, and pots it but has left himself another tricky red. He also nails that one with the rest, nearly goes in off and now has another tricky shot on the brown. But he misses it into the middle.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 11 Zhao Xintong 3
01:55 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Zhao has unquestionably settled the better of the two players.
He nails another long red, pots the yellow but then commits a rare atrocity, miscuing horribly to let Williams in.
Frame 3 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 3
01:52 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
This is not Zhao’s first meeting with today’s opponent.
01:49 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 2
Zhao is looking very composed as the balls disappear obligingly.
A tricky pot on the black with 44 scored is put away nicely and he’s in pole position now as he splits the reds with a fantastically well-paced pink.
After getting into a spot of bother he converts the red that requires him to bridge over the pink and this frame is now done, with a wonderfully easy-looking century.
Frame 2 (best of 35): Mark Williams 38 Zhao Xintong 100
Zhao wins the frame.
01:44 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 1
An excellent safety shot from Zhao tucks Williams up against the baulk cushion.
He goes for an ambitious indirect long red in the bottom-left corner which requires him to go off the side cushion. And he’s unlucky, both because he missed, and because he has left a plant on for Zhao, which he converts into the middle pocket. And now Zhao has the chance to build a break.
Frame 2 (best of 35): Mark Williams 38 Zhao Xintong 1
01:40 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 1
Big let-off that from Zhao and Williams knows he needs to capitalise second time around.
Every pot will settle nerves that will be jangling even for this brow-beaten veteran.
He splits the reds but didn’t get much action from the cue ball there, and has to end the break on 38.
And Williams betrays his state of mind by going to the wrong seat!
Frame 2 (best of 35): Mark Williams 38 Zhao Xintong 0
01:37 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 1
That was a calm and collected opening frame from Zhao, who capitalised on Williams’ early miss.
He’s left another long chance for Williams early in this second frame.
The red is near the pocket but on the side pocket. It wobbles for a second in the jaws of the pocket before dropping. That will settle Williams down. Now, can he respond with a big score?
No! The Welshman misses a regulation red for his third pot.
But Zhao also fluffs his lines. Tension...
Frame 2 (best of 35): Mark Williams 8 Zhao Xintong 0
01:32 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 1
Williams misses another long red, this time into the bottom left-hand corner.
And that miss could be costly. Zhao is away again.
And he cleans up with a break of 77 to win the opening frame.
First blood to Zhao.
Frame 1 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 141
Zhao wins frame.
01:24 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 0
Williams responds with a superb safety shot, leaving the cue ball behind the brown.
Zhao escapes and so a game of cat and mouse ensues, with the elder statesman playing some brutal safeties.
However, Zhao flukes a red, doubling it off the blue and into the middle pocket.
There is nothing else on though.
And this time Williams is snookered. He commits a foul and a miss.
And then repeats his original offence, this time hitting the yellow as he tries a circuitous escape route off three cushions.
He falls short again, his cue ball coming up millimetres short. And he finds his target fourth time lucky. And there’s no pot on for Zhao.
Frame 1 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 64
01:20 PM BST
Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 0
Match referee Eva Poskocilova, taking charge of this final for the first time, calls Zhao to break.
Williams is offered a sighter but misses the long red into the bottom-right pocket.
Zhao is up like a shot and uses the bridge to open the scoring, cutting the first red into the top-right baulk pocket.
The Chinese hope gets to work on the reds and the black and is looking very comfortable.
He reaches 51 but then gets out of position with the balls at his mercy.
He’ll have to play safe here, but that’s easier said than done. He tucks the cue ball against the baulk cushion. Let-off for Williams.
Frame 1 (best of 35): Mark Williams 0 Zhao Xintong 51
01:12 PM BST
Age before beauty
Williams knows what it takes to get it done at the Crucible – unlike Zhao for whom this is a maiden final appearance.
So, a fascinating contest awaits, between two left-handers on opposite ends of the age spectrum.
Will Zhao ‘the Cyclone’ Xintong, who was three years old when his opponent won his first world title, blow Williams away or will the Master Craftsman land a blow for seasoned veterans everywhere and claim his fourth championship?
Let the frames begin...
12:57 PM BST
Williams no walkover
One suspects Williams will not roll over as easily as O’Sullivan, though. When Zhao started to show signs of nerves in the semi-final, ‘the Rocket’ failed to take advantage of the chances that came his way – missing some very straighforward shots by his standards.
Williams, by contrast, is unlikely to be so obliging. He is playing much better than O’Sullivan at present and demonstrated superb resilience to battle back from 7-3 behind against Trump in the last-four stage.
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Williams, 50, is playing some of the best snooker of his career - PA/Danny Lawson
He has also won the world title three times, establishing himself among the best 10 players to have ever played the professional game: read the greatest 25 snooker players of all time.
12:54 PM BST
Set to rule the Worlds?
Zhao has been given a second chance and, with the sort of potting that has brought favourable comparisons with Jimmy White and O’Sullivan, the player’s idol and one-time mentor, he has taken it with both hands.
Stephen Hendry believes he could be set to dominate the game. And Hendry, himself a seven-time champion, should know.
12:52 PM BST
Who is Zhao Xintong?
The 28-year-old from China has been in scintillating form this season, ever since returning from a 20-month ban for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal, for which the general consensus is he has served his time for what was at worst a spot of naive decision-making.
For more on that and Zhao’s back story have a read of Jeremy Wilson’s piece on the fascinating first-time finalist.
12:49 PM BST
Welcome to Sheffield
Welcome to our live coverage of the 2025 World Snooker Championship final between Mark Williams and Zhao Xintong.
Williams will become the oldest player to contest the final at the Crucible after overcoming Judd Trump 17-14 at the tender age of 50.
Zhao impressively dispatched Ronnie O’Sullivan at the last-four stage, comfortably beating the seven-time champion 17-7 with a session to spare.
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