Zhao Xintong showed his mettle as world champion by reaching the Champion of Champions semi-finals on Tuesday in Leicester.
The 28 year-old only arrived at Manchester Airport at 7:55am on Tuesday morning having made the long journey back from China following the conclusion of the International Championship.
Zhao refused to let the jet lag affect his performances, however, as he first thumped two-time former winner Mark Allen with a whitewash display.
A more taxing encounter in the Group 3 final followed, with the yawning world number ten just about prevailing from a high-quality, topsy-turvy tie with Kyren Wilson in a deciding frame on the final black.
Zhao had established a 3-1 mid-session interval lead with breaks of 99, 78, and 73, only to sit and watch as his predecessor as Crucible champion stormed back.
Wilson won four frames on the spin with contributions of 120, 104, 88, and 62 to move to with the brink of a place in the competition’s last four.
But Zhao, buoyed by his first run to the semi-finals of a ranking event since Sheffield a few days ago, made breaks of 136 and 64 to force an 11th frame, which he duly won in thrilling circumstances.
“I just tried my best out there and I’m really happy with how I played today,” Zhao Xintong said afterwards.
“I missed a few shots and Kyren took full advantage to go 5–3 ahead. I didn’t want to let him win too easily – I wanted to make it a real battle.”
“I just kept fighting, stayed focused, and managed to come back. I was a bit lucky in the last two frames, especially with the final black.
“But sometimes you need that. I’m just happy to make it through to my first Champion of Champions semi-final.”
Zhao’s reaction to playing in a tournament so soon after the trip to China for the International Championship was a far cry from how Shaun Murphy dealt with the situation on Monday.
The Magician was furious with tournament promoters Matchroom Multi Sport for their organisation and scheduling of the week’s order of play.
Murphy reached the quarter-finals in Nanjing so had more time to return to the UK than semi-finalists Zhao and Stephen Maguire, and finalist John Higgins, who were all placed in groups on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday respectively.
But that didn’t stop Murphy lashing out after losing 4-1 to Lei Peifan, the British Open champion saying on ITV: “For me to be thrown out first is nothing short of despicable.”
“I think they have covered themselves in a huge embarrassment by treating me with such disrespect.”
“I always pride myself on conducting myself as professionally as I can, try to treat the game with an incredible amount of respect.
“There are three other players in this tournament who weren’t even in China last week. The way I have been treated by Matchroom in this tournament is nothing short of despicable.”
In the end, it was Judd Trump who emerged with a semi-final spot from that section after the world number one comfortably beat Bai Yulu and then Lei.
Group 1, meanwhile, featuring reigning champion Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Stephen Maguire, and Alfie Burden takes place on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Xiao Guodong, and Tom Ford will have their opportunities to reach the latter stages.
The invitational event boasts a top prize of £150,000 with more information about this year’s Champion of Champions available here.
Featured photo credit: WST
