Phil Haigh
Published December 1, 2025 5:00pm
Updated December 1, 2025 5:00pm
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Zhao Xintong could put together an all-time CV on the snooker table (Picture: Getty Images)
Both Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry can see Zhao Xintong dominating snooker for years to come, if he can display the relentless winning attitude that those greats of the game did.
Zhao won the World Championship for the first time in May this year, which was just his third ranking title at 28 years old.
He had made steady progress before that, which was halted by a ban from the game for his (relatively minor) involvement in a match-fixing scandal, but he burst back onto the table in style.
The Cyclone won the world title as an amateur, on his return from the ban, and now is among the contenders for any tournament he contests, including this week’s UK Championship.
The world champion started his campaign with a 6-1 win over compatriot Long Zehuang and Davis was left feeling he is the standout talent in the game, capable of taking it to another level.
‘Of all the players, even though it’s a very crowded market at the top of the game for how many great players there are, of all the players that I see at the moment, he looks like the only one that could possibly take it to the next level and dominate,’ Davis said on the BBC. ‘Properly dominate.
‘Not guaranteed by any means, because there’s so many great players.’
Steve Davis can see Zhao Xintong reaching new levels on the baize (Picture: Getty Images)
Davis feels Zhao’s got everything in his game to reach that level, but feels we are only yet to see how relentless his hunger is.
‘He’s got immense talent and he’s making it look very easy, but he’s got a great temperament as well,’ said the six-time world champion.
‘If he gets on a roll enough that he starts to get in other people’s brains that he’s so strong, that’s how it happens. That’s a relentlessness that we don’t know yet that he’s got.’
Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to win this year’s World Championship (Picture: Getty Images)
Hendry has long been a fan of the world champ and had a similar prediction, saying: ‘What a career Zho Xintong is going to have.
‘He’s got the potential to dominate the sport for the next 10-15 years. It just depends how much he wants it.’
Domination is rare and hasn’t really been seen since Davis in the 1980s and Hendry in the 90s, with only short spells from the likes of Judd Trump since.
This season has seen anything but dominance as 11 tournaments so far this campaign have seen 11 different winners.
The Chinese star has certainly won over snooker’s old guard, though, with Dennis Taylor adding: ‘In all the years I’ve played and watched snooker I’ve never enjoyed watching anyone as much as this player. I just love watching him play.’
Davis feels Zhao is the perfect mix of technical and aesthetic brilliance, comparing him to three-time world champion Mark Williams.
Mark Williams, 50, became the oldest ranking event winner this season (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I think when we see all different types of players playing the game, sometimes we see players struggle and they overthink it and they stop-start,’ said the Nugget. ‘The greatest attribute a player can have is to play on first instinct and trust your judgement on what is the right shot to play and then you can play with fluency.
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‘He’s a machine, an unbelievable machine, but he doesn’t make it look machine-like, it’s natural.
‘Mark Williams-like, similar style. Floats round the table. But machine like when he hits the ball.’
Zhao will play either Gary Wilson or Gary Wilson in the last 16 in York.
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