Zhao Xintong (Chinese: 赵心童; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player and the reigning World Snooker Champion. He first turned professional in the 2016–17 season, aged 19, having previously recorded wins against a number of top professionals while competing as an amateur wildcard. He had a breakthrough season in 2021–22, during which he won his first ranking title at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luca Brecel 10–5 in the final, and first entered the top 16 in the snooker world rankings. He won his second ranking title at the 2022 German Masters with a 9–0 whitewash victory over Yan Bingtao in the final; he became only the third player, after Steve Davis and Neil Robertson, to win a two-session ranking final without conceding a single frame. He was ranked sixth in the world after the 2021–22 season.
In January 2023, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association suspended Zhao as part of a match-fixing investigation involving ten Chinese players. He was subsequently charged with having knowledge of match-fixing and betting operations on the World Snooker Tour. Following an independent disciplinary tribunal, he was banned from competition for 30 months, although the WPBSA reduced his ban to 20 months, given his early admissions and guilty plea. Having lost his professional status, he returned to competition as an amateur player after his ban expired on 1 September 2024. He won four Q Tour events in a row between October 2024 and January 2025, thereby guaranteeing that he would top the 2024–25 Q Tour Europe rankings and regain his professional status for the start of the 2025–26 season. He became the first player to make a maximum break on the Q Tour, achieving the feat twice in Events 3 and 4.
Still competing as an amateur, Zhao qualified for the main stage of the 2024 UK Championship but lost to Shaun Murphy in the first round. At the 2025 World Snooker Championship, he won four qualifying matches to reach the main stage, where he went on to defeat Ronnie O'Sullivan 17–7 in the semi-finals and Mark Williams 18–12 in the final to win his first world title, second Triple Crown title, and third ranking title. He became the first player from mainland China and also the first from Asia to win the world title; he was also the first player to win a ranking event while competing as an amateur. He became the fourth qualifier to win the world title, after Alex Higgins, Terry Griffiths, and Murphy. His performance at the World Championship meant that on his return to the professional tour, he would be entering the snooker world rankings as world number 11.
Διαβάστε περισσότερα...Το 3 Απριλίου 1997 ήταν Πέμπτη κάτω από το σύμβολο του αστεριού του ♈. Ήταν η 92 ημέρα του χρόνου. Πρόεδρος των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών ήταν ο William J. (Bill) Clinton.
Εάν γεννηθήκατε αυτήν την ημέρα, είστε 28 ετών. Τα τελευταία σας γενέθλια ήταν στις Πέμπτη 3 Απριλίου 2025, 166 ημέρες πριν. Τα επόμενα γενέθλιά σας είναι στις Παρασκευή 3 Απριλίου 2026, σε 198 ημέρες. Έχετε ζήσει για 10.393 ημέρες ή περίπου 249.441 ώρες ή περίπου 14.966.486 λεπτά ή περίπου 897.989.160 δευτερόλεπτα.
Date: 03 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
McDonald's Corp will begin to sell breakfast sandwiches for 55 cents on April 4, kicking off price-cutting campaign the company is counting on to increase its sluggish US sales (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Lockheed Martin Corp to sell controlling stake in 10 aerospace and military communications businesses to investment group led by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc; transaction is valued at $525 million (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Medical Resources Inc agrees to buy US Diagnostic Inc for $212.5 million, combining two largest operators of medical-imaging centers in US (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co will invest $225 million in Randalls Food Markets, getting majority stake in closely held grocery store chain; Randalls operates 70 Randalls stores and 51 Tom Thumb stores (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
American Greetings Corp chief executive Morry Weiss says his company remains interested in buying rival, Gibson Greetings Inc, a year after its acquisition bid failed; Gibson's president-chief executive Frank O'Connell declines comment (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
McKesson Corp sells its Millbrook Distribution Services Inc unit to RAB Holdings Inc for about $60 million (S)
Date: 03 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
St Laurent Paperboard Inc agrees to buy paper mill, four plants and other assets from Chesapeake Corp for about $508 million (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Shares of Filipacchi Medias plunge 14.7 percent after offer by Lagardere Groupe to take control of Filipacchi valued its shares at sharp discount to closing share price on April 2 (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Sumitomo Bank Ltd cuts its pretax profit forecast 37.5 percent to 50 billion yen ($472.35 million) for year ended on March 31; for the year, Sumitomo will report about 35 billion yen in profit, down from initially projected 60 billion yen (S)
Date: 04 April 1997
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Three Thai finance companies say they will merge into 140 billion baht ($5.4 billion) commercial and investment bank as part of Government drive to reorganize country's finance industry; Nava Finance and Securities, CMIC Finance and Securities and Thaimex Finance and Securities say they will separate brokerage and lending operations of the new company (S)