Zhao Xintong has warned his snooker rivals that he is capable of beating anyone on his day as he prepares to make his major tournament comeback at the UK Championship.
The 27-year-old returned to competitive action in September after serving a 20-month ban for his role in a match-fixing scandal. Zhao did not throw a match himself but he was punished for being party to another player fixing matches, as well as placing illegal bets.
After tearing up a succession of Q Tour events, Zhao defeated Sunny Akani, Jiang Jun, Noppon Saengkham and Ricky Walkden to qualify for the UK Championship, which starts at the Barbican in York on Saturday.
Zhao was once as high as sixth in the world rankings, and he boasts two ranking tournament victories since turning professional eight years ago, including the UK Championship in 2021.
Now he’s back, the Chinese is keen to remind his fellow competitors that he should not be taken lightly. “I believe if I play well I can beat anybody,” Zhao said. “I’ll try my best.”
He also warned others to learn lessons from his ordeal, adding: “Two years ago I made a little mistake and now I’m back, so I know how important snooker is for me. I want to come back to the snooker table and get trophies.
“These are very big lessons for me, it makes me appreciate snooker more. Let [others] know this is a big lesson, so don’t make mistakes. Just playing snooker is a very good thing. A little bit of pressure made me do the wrong thing at the wrong time.
“This two years has been very long for me but I kept practicing every day. I knew I’d come back so I needed to keep confident in myself. I kept practicing and just needed to come back. I know it’s very hard, but I think it made me stronger. Later I will be stronger.”
Zhao is in for a tough test at the Barbican, where his first match will be against Shaun Murphy on Saturday. The former world champion said of his upcoming opponent: “He has served his time and he’s back competing.
“The problem with Zhao Xintong is he’s really bloody good! That’s the problem with Xintong. It might be fair to say he’s done nothing for 18 months but with practice he looks very, very sharp.”
