World Snooker Championship 2025

Phew!

Congratulations to Zhao Xintong! First Chinese player to win the title, first Asian player to win the title, first amateur to win the title, and he won me a few bob as well. When I bet on Zhao to win before the Crucible stages, little did I suspect I was backing the winner.

Mark Williams did make me sweat a little in the 4 frames before the interval. I've seen him hog the table and keep my favourite players in their seat many times before. He must be in his twilight years as a professional, but his light hasn't gone out yet.

Well done to Desislava Bozhilova for a fantastic job as referee, and thanks to the BBC for doing that feature on her and that interview with her.

(05-05-2025 20:39 )Snooks Wrote:  A disappointing end to a tournament that promised much but imo with the exception of a couple of matches after the first round delivered painfully little.
The Williams v Higgins quarter final and Williams v Trump semi final aside it lacked any sort of excitement after the opening round had finished.

Losing so many top players in the first round didn't help matters.
I can't help feeling that if Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson had not fallen victim to first round banana skin defeats all three could have tested Zhou way more than anyone ultimately did.

Jak Jones was poor, Wakelin was poor, Ronnie was poor and Mark Williams had run out of steam. Nobody put Zhou under any pressure and he just happily mopped up frame after frame without a care in the world. That is the harsh reality.

Zhou was excellent and deservedly won the title. His opponents were miles off it and failed to put him under any pressure which made it a bit dull.

If anyone has ever had prospects to defy the Crucible curse Zhou may be the man to do it in 2026. He is undoubtedly a huge talent.

I do agree that this year's tournament started out with so much promise and did not conclude with a bang. From the start I wanted to see a Chinese player win it this year - and I favoured Zhou after seeing the quality of his play despite such a long absence from the televised arena. Luca Brecel put in some scintillating snooker against Ding. Ronnie, Judd, John Higgins, and Mark Williams all had their moments, but the consistency was really under par, especially from Judd. Ronnie, not having played for such a long time, and with all the problems with his cue - very understandable. At least we had a 147 during the televised stages... I do see the power shifting to China in the near future even if Judd and Ronnie continue to put up some resistance. There just aren't enough top European players to compete with the mass of Chinese players coming through. Kyren Wilson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Selby, Neil Robertson, and a few others will still be hard to dismantle, but Zhou is clearly the future.

Zhou Xintong jumps straight into the top 16 of the world rankings and sits at 11.
And of course he will automatically become the number one seed next year in Sheffield.