What went wrong for Zhao Xintong after world snooker champion's latest shock defeat to Robert Milkins at Xi'an Grand Prix?
By Desmond Kane
Updated 09/10/2025 at 07:27 GMT+1
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World champion Zhao Xintong has made the sport's most centuries this season, with 22 and counting, but such a prolific level of scoring has not been matched by results, with a run to the last 16 of the Saudi Arabia Masters in August his best performance at a ranking event so far this season. A 5-2 loss to Robert Milkins in the last 64 of the Xi'an Grand Prix was another premature exit for Zhao.
Zhao smiles in disbelief as world champion misses final pink for 147
Video credit: TNT Sports
Zhao Xintong was heralded as the new face of snooker when he became China's historic first world champion in May, but it has been a tough time living up to expectations beyond the Crucible.
Zhao suffered a shock 5-2 defeat to 'The Milkman' Robert Milkins in the second round of the Xi'an Grand Prix on Wednesday amid a series of early setbacks on the main World Snooker Tour this season.
His most productive outing so far was a run to the semi-finals of the invitational Shanghai Masters in early August when he lost 10-5 to Kyren Wilson after leading 5-4 at one stage.
Zhao went on to ship the final six frames of the second session before a stunned home crowd.
The nature of that collapse seems to have precipitated an unexpected downturn in results for the world No. 11, with his 6-5 defeat to Chris Wakelin in the last 16 of the Saudi Arabia Masters later in the month his best return at a ranking event.
Losses in the last 32 of the Wuhan Open (5-4 to Stephen Maguire), English Open (4-1 to Jack Lisowski) and British Open (4-2 to John Higgins) were followed by an exit at the last-64 stage of the Xi'an Grand Prix against world No. 56 Milkins, a figure who is fighting to remain on tour next season.
"I was expecting Zhao to play better, but he struggled," said Milkins, who had won only three matches this season before defeating the world champion, Zhao mustering a highest break of only 55.
"You just have to take it. I’ve lost a lot of deciders this season, and it has put me in a bad position. I’ve really been struggling and everything is like a pint of blood at the moment.
"I’ve been playing well when practising. I’ve been waiting for something to happen, but I haven’t taken it into any matches at all this year. It has been a bit of a shambles.
"A couple of deciders the other way and it could be different."
It has been quite the few years for 28-year-old Zhao, who was ranked world No. 6 and won the UK title in 2021 before he was banned for 20 months for his involvement in the sport's biggest match-fixing scandal in 2023,
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But he booked his return to the main circuit as an amateur in style via a first-placed finish on the Q Tour Europe ranking list and qualified for the Crucible via four wins at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
A dominant 18-12 win over three-time winner Mark Williams in the 49th Crucible final saw him earn a ÂŁ500,000 cheque and secure his place inside the top 16 for the new season.
After compiling 12 centuries at the Crucible, he was tipped to challenge for more titles with six-time world finalist Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White prompted to comment on TNT Sports: "Zhao Xintong is a superstar out there now. He is massive.
"He has taken it to a new level. He is a young, good-looking guy. He is really suave. He is modern and so has a different audience now."
Yet, despite producing 22 centuries so far this season, the most of any player on tour, he has yet to regain the level of consistency that helped him defeat Jak Jones (10-4), Lei Peifan (13-10), Wakelin (13-5) and seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan (17-7) on his charge to the sport's biggest title in Sheffield.
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'Superb display' - Lisowski stuns world champion Zhao to reach last 16
Video credit: TNT Sports
Of course, he is not alone in toiling to reach the latter stages of events with world No. 1 Judd Trump losing 5-4 to world No. 51 Matthew Stevens, the former UK and Masters champion, on Wednesday in Xi'an, in a campaign that has seen him fail to go beyond the last 16 of any ranking event.
Perhaps we should be less surprised when leading men go missing for potting periods of time when the levels in the sport have never been higher.
That is illustrated by the first six major finals of the new season being contested by 12 different players.
That number rises to 16 with the final two tournaments of last season, including four other players, and Zhao in the world final.
Perhaps the weight of expectation on Zhao's shoulders has also been a factor with China, a country with a population of 1.4bn, devoted to their sporting heroes as they defend national honour with cue in hand.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Zhao's next outing is a meeting with home hope Jordan Brown in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast on Sunday, October 19 before he returns to his homeland for a meeting with Oliver Brown in the first round of the International Championship in Nanjing, November 2-9, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
A loss of confidence and self-belief can afflict generational talents in any sport as O'Sullivan himself discovered against Zhao in Sheffield last May.
Perhaps a short break from the old routine will be of benefit to such a unique shot-maker, with bundles of opportunity remaining on the table for Zhao in the months ahead.
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Watch and stream top snooker action, including the Xi’an Grand Prix, live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+
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