Zhao Xintong has firmly cemented his place among snooker’s elite after a dazzling run to the 2026 Players Championship title in Telford, overcoming the legendary John Higgins 10-7 in a final brimming with drama, momentum swings, and world-class breaks. The 28-year-old Chinese superstar, already the reigning world champion, delivered a performance that left seasoned observers reaching for superlatives and set new milestones in the sport’s history.
From the opening frame, it was clear that this would be no ordinary final. Higgins, a four-time world champion and one of snooker’s most decorated competitors, struck first, racing to a 2-0 lead as the crowd at the Telford International Centre sensed a potential upset brewing. But Zhao, known for his calm under pressure and devastating break-building, responded in kind, leveling the match at 2-2 and then nudging ahead 4-3 as the afternoon session wore on.
The match ebbed and flowed, with neither player able to establish a decisive advantage. Higgins’ experience shone through as he clawed back to 4-4 at the interval, and then again as he edged ahead 7-6 in the evening session, seemingly poised to become the oldest winner of a ranking event at age 50. But Zhao had other ideas. With the pressure mounting, he produced a breathtaking sequence of snooker, reeling off four straight frames with breaks of 104, 126, and 92—an exhibition of precision and nerve that had even his opponent in awe.
“The last three frames there it was absolutely poetry in motion,” Higgins told Channel 5 after the match. “I can always remember my dad saying he was lucky to see people like George Best and Jimmy Johnstone. The snooker players, I’m sure my kids are lucky that they’ve watched somebody like Xintong because he is an absolute genius. A genius.”
Higgins, making his 60th ranking final appearance, was gracious in defeat, admitting, “I felt totally great. I felt really, really good, but I just couldn’t pot the long balls. Then you’re thinking, you’ve got to get them because if you don’t get them, you know he’s going to punish you. As I say, the last three frames, it was a joy to watch even though I was on the receiving end.”
Zhao’s triumph in Telford is his second consecutive ranking title, coming hot on the heels of his World Grand Prix victory in Hong Kong just a week prior. “I still can’t believe that, because last week I was still in Hong Kong, and now I’m back to Telford and won the championship again. This has been a dream, so I can’t believe that,” Zhao said, his disbelief evident. “This week, I played not really good, but tonight I think the last three frames—as John said—I played very nice frames. I’m really happy.”
The victory earns Zhao a handsome £150,000 in prize money and propels him to a career-high world ranking of number five, surpassing his previous best of six. He becomes only the fourth player in snooker history to win each of his first five ranking finals, joining the illustrious company of Steve Davis, Mark Williams, and Neil Robertson. More impressively, Zhao is the first to claim both the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship since the Players Series was introduced in the 2018/19 season.
His path to the title was anything but smooth. Zhao survived nail-biting 6-5 encounters against Elliot Slessor in the last 16 and Mark Allen in the semi-finals, and dispatched Shaun Murphy 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Yet, when it mattered most, he found another gear, storming to victory in the final’s closing stages.
Snooker greats have lined up to praise Zhao’s extraordinary rise. Stephen Hendry, seven-time world champion, declared, “I’m always looking for players who can take the game to the next level. I think this young man can. I think he’s operating at a higher level than anyone else in the game at the moment. He seems to have shrugged the expectation of being world champion and the pressure of that. And now just playing with a freedom and a confidence. Best player in the world at the moment, no doubt about it.”
Former Masters champion Alan McManus was equally effusive, saying, “That’s what generational talents do in winning big tournaments. He’s put away a legend and put him away in style. He is something incredibly special. We’re talking about six, seven or eight players in the history of our sport are that special. He’s definitely the next one.”
For Higgins, the defeat was bittersweet. His run to the final included a memorable semi-final victory over world number one Judd Trump, capped by a closing break of 65. Yet, his hopes of setting a new age record for ranking event winners were dashed by Zhao’s brilliance. “Take a couple of days to get over this, see what happens. Go to Wales, then obviously you’ve got the World Open, possibly the Tour Championship, then the World Championship. But I think he’ll be the man to beat at the World Championship this year, I really do.”
With his latest triumph, Zhao also moves up to second place in the one-year snooker rankings, trailing only Neil Robertson. The race for qualification to the prestigious Tour Championship in Manchester is heating up, with just two tournaments—the Welsh Open and the World Open—remaining before the cut-off. As it stands, Zhao has leapfrogged several top players and looks a near-certainty for Manchester, while Higgins’ runner-up finish lifts him to 11th in the one-year list.
Snooker’s relentless schedule offers little respite. The 2026 Welsh Open kicked off on February 23 in Llandudno, with Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, and Zhao Xintong all vying for glory. Selby enters as the number one seed, having won the event last year. The Tour Championship in Manchester and the season-ending World Championship in Sheffield loom large on the horizon, with Zhao now widely tipped to break the so-called “Crucible Curse” and defend his world title—a feat never before achieved by a first-time champion at the iconic venue.
For now, Zhao is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. “I just want to enjoy the snooker, enjoy the table and I’m very happy to have a lot of friends here to see me play snooker. I really enjoy that,” he said. When asked about the possibility of making history with a treble of the Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship in the same season, he replied with characteristic modesty, “Hopefully, yeah. I just want to do the best I can, yeah.”
As the snooker world turns its attention to Llandudno and beyond, one thing is clear: Zhao Xintong’s star is rising fast, and the sport may be witnessing the birth of a new era. With the world’s top players chasing his shadow and legends singing his praises, Zhao’s journey is just getting started—and fans everywhere can’t wait to see what he’ll do next.