Zhao Xintong is one step away from becoming China's first snooker world champion after a comfortable win in the third session of the final against Mark Williams at the Crucible.
Zhao will resume play in the evening with a 17-8 lead over the Welsh veteran in the best-of-35 match, having won six of the eight frames on Monday afternoon.
Williams admitted he had no counter to his opponent, tweeting from the locker room: “It was tough – I don't have the cue strength to compete in tough conditions like Zhao. His cue strength is impressive. Probably the best I've ever seen.”
Neither player produced a standout performance in a tense session in which Williams struggled to avoid becoming the first player since Jimmy White in 1993 to lose a Crucible final with one session to spare.
He achieved this with a break of 66 in the 23rd frame, but Zhao restored his advantage with a break of 67, the highest score of the session, before capitalising on a Williams error in the final frame to pot the ball that took him one step closer to triumph.
If Zhao completes his task on Monday, he will become only the third player to qualify and win the title after Shaun Murphy and Terry Griffiths, and the first amateur to lose his tour card through a 20-month ban for his role in a betting scandal in 2023.
Zhao resumed his Q Tour run last September and won 46 of his subsequent 48 matches to reach the Crucible final, having successfully completed four qualifying rounds, a record for a potential winner.
Williams, now 50 and the oldest Crucible finalist, needed a quick start to have any chance of winning the final session, but a missed blue serve to the centre court gave his opponent the opportunity to extend his lead to 12-6.
Williams won the next round despite missing a pink ball midway through, before Zhao won the next two rounds to give him a chance of an early victory.
Williams avoided this pose.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
