Stephen Hendry reckons ‘incredible’ world champion Zhao Xintong can make snooker look easier than any other player.
The 28-year-old stormed to a maiden World Championship title in Sheffield this year, beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semis and then Mark Williams in the Crucible final.
It has been something of a lean time for the Cyclone since then, struggling for deep runs in tournaments, but he appears to be rediscovering something like his best form.
A semi-final run at the International Championship last week was followed by a dramatic day at the Champion of Champions on Tuesday which saw Zhao hammer Mark Allen 4-0 and then edge out Kyren Wilson 6-5 to book a spot in the semis.
Speaking on punditry duty in Leicester, Hendry told ITV4: ‘He is incredible, he makes the game look so easy. Probably more easy than anyone in the game. What a player. What a talent.’
Those two wins came after only landing in the UK just before 8am on Tuesday, then heading straight to Leicester from Manchester to play his first match with Allen.
The Northern Irishman potted just one ball in his whitewash defeat to Zhao as the Chinese star made breaks of 60, 78 and 76.
The Pistol took it in good spirits, posting on X: ‘It was a very good red, I thought.’
Zhao then bounced back from 5-3 behind to Wilson to beat him on the final black of the deciding frame, despite clearly being exhausted at times during the contest.
Hendry said after the winner made breaks of 136, 64 and 58 in the final three frames: ‘There were a few yawns in the chair, but Zhao Xintong found something from somewhere.’
Zhao reflected: ‘I just tried my best and I did well. When I was 3-1 up I missed a few shots and he played well and came back to 5-3.
‘I was just thinking I don’t want Kyren to win so easy, just maybe one or two frames, just try my best and to come back. I got some luck in the last two frames.’
‘Every time I see him play he impresses me more and more.’
The seven-time world champion added: ‘It was great to hear him say he didn’t want his opponent to win easy. That’s great, that’s world champion talk, when you’re that tired you think you’re not going to let him win this match easily. That was brilliant.
‘What a player he is. Every time I see him play he impresses me more and more.’
Wilson gave credit for Zhao for his performance but was frustrated with the way the table played at the Mattioli Arena.
‘It’s what you expect, what the punters want to come and see, the two latest world champions going toe-to-toe and trying their best in quite difficult conditions,’ he said. ‘Considering, we both played pretty well, every credit to Zhao, he deserved his victory and I’d like to wish him all the best for the next round.
‘There was a few issues with the table to be honest, it’s not the table-fitters, I just think it’s these Rasson tables, they’re hard to level. It was really severely drifting to the left so I lost a lot of confidence early on.
‘Then I thought I’ve got to step it up and try and take the game to him, which I managed to do, but not quite good enough.’
World champion vs world number one
Zhao’s win sets up a blockbuster semi-final with world number one Judd Trump on Friday after the Ace beat Bai Yulu and Lei Peifan on Monday.
It will be the first time the two players have met since January 2022 when Zhao beat Trump in the German Masters quarter-finals on his way to winning the tournament.
Either players are vying to join them in the semi-finals, with Wednesday’s group featuring Mark Williams, Alfie Burden, Mark Selby and Stephen Maguire.
On Thursday it is John Higgins, Xiao Guodong, Neil Robertson and Tom Ford battling to make the semis.