Zhao Xintong won his first title as a world champion on Friday, beating Neil Robertson 5-2 to seal success at the 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
In what was his first appearance at the lucrative invitational tournament in Saudi Arabia, the 28 year-old pocketed the huge £250,000 top prize.
A scrappy opening to the final saw the two finalists take an early frame each, before Zhao took what proved to be a crucial third frame where both players had spurned opportunities.
The Chinese cueist shifted through the gears after that, compiling back-to-back century breaks of 131 and 134 to move to within the brink of glory.
Robertson, who won the Saudi Arabia Masters in August, briefly managed to stay in the hunt with a run of 91 in the sixth frame, but a 57 contribution from his opponent in the next confirmed the outcome.
Earlier on Friday, Zhao had reached the final with a tight 4-3 victory over world number one Judd Trump – compiling a tournament-high break of 138 in the process.
“I’m very excited,” Zhao Xintong said in his post-match interview with the World Snooker Tour.
“This time in Saudi Arabia is my second time playing here. I was already excited to be playing in this tournament.”
“Now on top of that, to win the title helps to bring my confidence back a lot. So I hope I can play even better in the next tournaments.
“The third frame of the final was very crucial for both of us. I took advantage of his mistake and got back in play.
“It was very important. After winning it, it gave me a huge boost in confidence. I felt like I could ride the momentum and take the win.
“The three players who I beat in this tournament, I like them very much. So I’m very happy to take the wins and to win the title.
“For me, it’s really a huge encouragement. I think I really needed it at this moment – a good title run to prove myself – so I’m really happy I did it.
“I still have a long way to go, and I feel I can get even better. I hope to continue to try my best in every tournament.
“I don’t want to think about the results. I feel like, if I can play well, the good results will come [But] of course, I hope I can make a bid at the Masters to complete the Triple Crown.”
Champions in the 2025/26 season so far:
Championship League Snooker – Stephen Maguire
Shanghai Masters – Kyren Wilson
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters – Neil Robertson
Wuhan Open – Xiao Guodong
English Open – Mark Allen
British Open – Shaun Murphy
Xi’an Grand Prix – Mark Williams
Northern Ireland Open – Jack Lisowski
International Championship – Wu Yize
Champion of Champions – Mark Selby
Riyadh Season Snooker Championship – Zhao Xintong
Zhao’s triumph continues a strange stat from the ongoing 2025/26 campaign that has seen every event on the calendar being won by a different player.
Meanwhile, for the third edition of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in a row, nobody was able to pot the golden ball worth 20 points for a 167 break and a bumper $1,000,000 bonus.
Mark Allen had a small opportunity in his semi-final match with Robertson, reaching 72 before coming undone when trying to split the pack of reds.
Next up for the players will be the UK Championship, with the qualifiers beginning on Saturday and the main event commencing next weekend in York.
2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship Results
Round of 12 (bo7)
Ding Junhui 4-0 Ayman Alamri
Shaun Murphy 4-0 Ziyad Alqabbani
Round of 10 (bo7)
John Higgins 4-0 Ding Junhui
Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-4 Shaun Murphy
Quarter-Finals (bo7)
Mark Allen 4-2 John Higgins
Kyren Wilson 0-4 Neil Robertson
Judd Trump 4-0 Mark Williams
Zhao Xintong 4-2 Shaun Murphy
Semi-Finals (bo7)
Mark Allen 1-4 Neil Robertson
Judd Trump 3-4 Zhao Xintong
Final (bo9)
Neil Robertson 2-5 Zhao Xintong
Featured photo credit: WST
