Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese player to win the World Snooker Championship with a victory over Welshman and three-times winner Mark Williams at the Crucible Theatre on Monday, the latest chapter in Zhao’s remarkable rise and fall story.

Zhao Xintong secured his first World Snooker Championship title with an 18-12 win over Mark Williams on Monday evening, and the Chinese superstar is clearly ready for more success

The long-overdue moment that a first Chinese winner of the World Snooker Championship finally arrived was supposed to be one of unalloyed joy. Yet now it’s here, there is an air of hesitancy around the celebrations – entirely because the man in question is Zhao Xintong.