If anyone else was glued to this year's World Snooker Championship, they might have been confronted by a nagging question: just what should we make of Zhao Xintong?
The 28 year-old became China’s first snooker world champion by beating class-of-ninety-two legend Mark Williams in a one-sided final. Xintong wrapped his native flag around himself as he lifted The Silver Lady, the sport’s most coveted trophy.
He became the first amateur to win The World Championship, having had to start his run in qualifying, winning four matches in order to even reach the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. It is perhaps a mark of how long his run lasted that golfer Rory McIlroy had not even won The Masters when he took his first break off shot, beginning his month-long marathon which saw him win 111 frames.
Xintong has been showered in plaudits by some of the game’s greatest players, with Ronnie O’Sullivan, who he beat with a session to spare in the semi-finals, describing him as “the Roger Federer of snooker,” and final opponent Williams remarking that he is “a new superstar of the game."
Previously banned from the sport
However, some of what has taken place in Xintong's past has left many snooker fans unsure of how to feel about his victory.
Back in 2023, when ranked ninth in the world, he was banned from the sport for twenty months for match-fixing along with nine other Chinese players.
Initially banned for thirty months - for betting on matches and helping to rig two matches featuring fellow countryman and former Masters champion Yan Bingtao - his sentence was reduced thanks to his guilty plea, cooperation with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association’s (WPBSA) investigation, and his display of “genuine remorse for his actions."
Therefore, it is perhaps understandable that some onlookers have found themselves reluctant to get swept up in the joy of others surrounding Xintong's achievement, following all that has gone before.
Quite simply, he brought the game into disrepute and abused the platform he had earned through natural talent, which was sufficient to earn him more than enough money to leave him without any need to benefit from more on the side.
However, Xintong - who was crucially not found guilty of fixing his own matches - has spoken, since returning to the game, of having made a mistake and learned “very big lessons,” making him appreciate snooker more.
A forgiving attitude
The general feeling amongst the game’s pundits seems to be that he found himself in with the wrong crowd and made a few foolish choices, and that he was not the main perpetrator of wrongdoing as part of the wider scandal.
Ultimately, he has served his ban, during which he claims he practised everyday in preparation for his return to the circuit, and many believe he should be looked on with a fresh pair of eyes now that he has served his punishment.
It is understandable if some snooker fans are still struggling to see Xintong's win in the joyful light that many others are, as China - and Asia - sees its first world champion crowned.
Xintong has served his punishment: justice has been delivered. As Christians who have personally experienced Christ’s undeserved forgiveness first-hand, perhaps we should align with those who are willing to forgive Xintong of his mistakes, and give him a chance to move on from his past wrongdoings.
