Can Zhao Xintong dominate snooker? John Higgins, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby weigh in

As Zhao Xintong prepares to defend his World Championship title, his sparkling form in recent months has suggested he could be entering a spell of snooker dominance.

The 29-year-old breezed to his first world title a year ago, not really pushed at the Crucible, even by legendary forces Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams.

After becoming world champ, he had a slow start to the season but has sparked into life spectacularly over the last couple of months.

The Cyclone won the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, Players Championship in Telford and Tour Championship in Manchester, completing a remarkable treble of the Players Series events.

He arrives at the Crucible as favourite to lift the trophy again and break the Crucible curse, with seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry believing he can take the game to a new level.

Hendry was the last player to truly dominate the game, reeling off seven World Championship wins in 10 years from 1990-99, similar to Steve Davis landing six world titles in nine years in the 80s.

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Could Zhao reach that kind of dominance now? His rivals weigh in.

John Higgins

‘I think he is one special player that would have more of a chance than most to dominate this game,’ said Higgins.

‘I don’t think it would ever be dominated the same way maybe Davis did, or Hendry, but a certain level of domination, the way [Judd] Trump has done in the last few years, I definitely think Xintong could match that.’

Mark Selby

‘He is at the moment isn’t he? What he’s achieving at the moment is phenomenal,’ Selby told Metro.

‘Obviously doing it here [the Crucible] is different. Rightly so people are saying he could beat the Crucible curse. He’s definitely in with a shout, but the curse is there for a reason. You look at all the world class players who have won it: Hendry, Higgins, Williams, Ronnie and they’ve not gone back-to-back. It’ll be tough.

‘Hopefully he doesn’t. Obviously for him he wants to dominate the game, but for everyone else it’s nice to see different winners.’

Neil Robertson

‘I think there’s a little window now in terms of the tour moving forward will not have to deal with a rampaging O’Sullivan, Williams and Higgins like they have done in the past,’ said Robertson.

‘They’re all still super strong, some of the best players in the world, but Ronnie doesn’t play in every event so there’s been a lot more windows for players to win events. So there’s been a little bit of a drop-off in terms of running into them in a semi-final or a final, it doesn’t happen as frequently as it used to.

‘But the strength of the tour is also so much stronger now, in the first round you’re playing someone who’s capable of making three centuries in a row against you. So pros and cons.

‘In terms of dominance…no I don’t think we’ll see someone win four, five, six world titles in seven or eight years like Hendry did. I don’t see that happening.

‘If you look at Xintong’s tournaments he’s won this year, he’s had a few banana skins, close moments when he should have been beat.

‘He could be a dominant player, I think he probably will be a dominant player, but there’s a lot of players who feel they’ll be the same. People like Judd and Kyren [Wilson], even myself, I still feel great physically and mentally. Selby, Shaun [Murphy], there’s still a lot of great opposition out there.’

Zhao Xintong

Zhao himself was asked if he sees himself as the best player in the world right now, dismissing the idea by saying: ‘No. I still can be better.’

Asked who is better than him, he said: ‘Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, everybody in the top 16. I’m still learning.’

The Cyclone feels stronger now than he did earlier in the campaign, when he admits he was struggling to deal with the pressure of being world champion.

A win at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in November proved to be the turning point.

‘I think the changing point was Riyadh, that was my first championship this season and it made me have big confidence,’ he said. ‘Before I struggled, I didn’t know how to play with the very big pressure.

‘Everybody in China keeps eyes on me, when I play in China I can’t play well. But now I try to learn how to control myself with the pressure. I’m getting better, but not perfect, I’m learning.’

On the eve of his world title defence, he admitted the nerves were starting to jangle, saying: ‘Big pressure, I know this is a big moment for me.

‘This is my first time to be defending champion at the Crucible. One week ago I thought it didn’t matter, but today I feel a little bit of pressure. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow for my first game.’

His title defence begins on Saturday against Liam Highfield over two sessions at 10am and 7pm.

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