Spring is a great time for sport, with domestic cricket beginning, the football season coming to a head, golf’s US Masters producing drama on the fairways and greens, plus huge UK events like the London Marathon, the Boat Race and the Grand National. For snooker fans, however, this time of year means one thing and one thing only: the World Snooker Championship.
The 2026 edition of the game’s greatest event gets underway in Sheffield – with the Crucible’s future as host recently secured until at least 2045 – on the 18th of April. As usual, things will conclude over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, with fans set to savour two and a half brilliant weeks of snooker.
Last year, Chinese star Zhao Xintong made history by becoming the first Chinese player to claim the title. He was, in fact, the first Asian player to be crowned world champion, and did so as a qualifier, having previously served a ban of 20 months. 12 months on, Zhao returns to defend his title as the dominant force in the game and is very obviously the man to beat.
The man from Shenzhen turned 29 at the start of April and is now the firm favourite to claim his second world title in Sheffield. He is available at odds of around 3/1, ahead of Judd Trump (11/2), Ronnie O’Sullivan (7/1), and Mark Selby (8/1) – well worth a punt, especially if you can get your hands on a no deposit crypto bonus. His form in recent months has been dazzling, and he is starting to show the sort of snooker that Ronnie predicted he was capable of as long ago as 2021.
Imperious in Manchester
Zhao Xintong wasn’t even ranked this time last year… but he could still finish the season as World No. 1 🤯
IF…
• He wins the Halo World Championship
• Judd Trump loses in round one in Sheffield
Neil Robertson also has an outside shot at ending the season top of the… pic.twitter.com/9uVSqPWxZt
— WST (@WeAreWST) April 6, 2026
Zhao had already been in exceptional form this year, winning the World Grand Prix and Players Championship, two ranking events and the first two legs of the Players Series. Those wins meant he had won each of his first ranking-event finals, something only previously achieved by Steve Davis, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson.
He broke new ground, however, by winning the third event of the Players Series, becoming the first man to win all three events. It also means he has now won his first six finals in ranking events, something the three men named above also achieved. His win earned him a handsome £150,000, which took his seasonal tally to over £1m. Only Judd Trump and O’Sullivan, two of Zhao’s heroes, had previously broken the seven-figure barrier, and Zhao is far from done yet.
However, it was not just his win, the amount of money he has won this season, or even the fact that he has become the first player ever to complete the Players Series hat-trick in a single season that was most striking. It was the manner of his victory that really stood out and his rivals in Sheffield will be watching on, wondering if even their very best is good enough to live with the Chinese ace right now.
The Opponents
Manchester was the venue for the 2026 Tour Championship, and with everything Manchester City and Manchester United have achieved in the Premier League, it is a city accustomed to seeing sporting brilliance. What Zhao produced during this event bears comparison with the accomplishments of those football heavyweights.
He came into the tournament seeded second, behind Robertson, the seedings determined by ranking points won in the 2025/26 season. As one of the top four seeds in this limited 12-player tournament, Zhao progressed to the quarter finals automatically.
He met English player Chris Wakelin, the 10th seed, and won with ease, 10-4. As straightforward as that win was, it was as good as it would get for Zhao’s opponents in this tournament. In the semis, he played magnificently to inflict a 10-1 defeat on four-time world champion John Higgins. That was the Scot’s heaviest loss in a best-of-19 match and equalled his worst defeat in terms of the margin of frames. The Wizard of Wishaw watched on as Zhao produced the magic. The 29-year-old only made one century, but his tally of 11 breaks of 50 or more was stunning in a match that lasted just 11 frames.
The Final
Zhao was not quite as prolific in the final, where he met Trump, whom he described as his “favourite player”, but still thrashed his opponent 10-3. Trump was not at his best and could not take advantage of the chances that came his way. Afterwards, he praised his opponent, saying that he was a “great player”, adding “he’s going to be around for a long time” and that unless he and the other players at the top could raise their games, Zhao was “going to end his career with 100 tournaments or something like that”. Trump concluded by saying what is obvious to anyone who follows the game, that “over these past two months he’s been the best player in the world”.
Zhao has moved up to a career-best of number four in the world, but it is surely only a matter of time before he becomes number one. The Worlds are now less than two weeks away, and Trump, Ronnie or someone else is going to have to produce sensational snooker to get near the defending champion in Sheffield.