Zhao Xintong and Zhang Anda will play for the £180,000 when they contest the 2026 World Grand Prix final on Sunday in Hong Kong.
The duo emerged from the all-Chinese semi-finals at the Kai Tak Arena on Saturday, with Zhao beating Xiao Guodong 6-3 and Zhang edging Zhou Yuelong 6-5.
The latter game was particularly dramatic with there never being more than a frame between them leading to a thrilling climax that went right down to the final black.
World champion Zhao had a touch more control in his last-four outing, making six 50-plus contributions and a century break to reach his first ranking final since the Crucible.
The 28 year-old has taken a while to find top gear again since that memorable month in Sheffield last year, but he is certainly approaching a high level in Hong Kong.
Zhao ousted four-time world champions John Higgins and Mark Selby earlier in the week and has moved one win away from a fourth career ranking crown.
Of course, he already boasts some silverware from this season having got his hands on the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship trophy a few months ago.
The world number eight will start the all-Chinese showdown in the final of the 2026 World Grand Prix as the obvious favourite for glory.
Yet it would be foolish to completely write off a resurgent Zhang, who has bounced back strongly from losing his top 16 membership at the back end of 2025.
The former International Championship winner compiled a brace of century breaks in an entertaining tussle with Zhou, ultimately holding his nerve at the death in what was a frantic finish.
It took Zhang 14 years as a professional to break into the top 64 of the world rankings, and in that same year in 2023 he reached his first ranking final.
This will represent his fourth title-deciding bout and he certainly has the pedigree and composure to upset the odds.
Zhao and Zhang have clashed on only three occasions on the main tour, and two of those have been in the last couple of months.
Zhang beat his younger countryman in the last 16 of the UK Championship in York and boasts a 2-1 superior head-to-head record overall.
The only success Zhao has enjoyed was in the behind-closed-doors Championship League, a match which was played over a short best-of-five frame sprint.
There might have been periods when the players involved this week thought that they were playing by themselves again given the, at times, dreadful attendances for the tournament.
Here’s hoping that there will be a bigger crowd in to watch the finale, where the 2025/26 season’s 13th ranking title will be on the line.
Good news for both Zhao and Zhang is that they have already secured qualification for the upcoming Players Championship.
Their semi-final wins have safeguarded their spots in the top 16 of the one-year rankings list, so they’ll definitely be invited to Telford later this month.
Right now, though, their primary focus will be on the World Grand Prix trophy and collecting that lucrative champion’s cheque.
The 2026 World Grand Prix final takes place over 19 frames on Sunday, February 8th at 5am and 11am GMT.
Featured photos credit: WST
I’ve not watched lots of action this week but the attendance for O’Sullivan v Xiao surprised me at how low it was.
The attendance not brilliant for Zhao/Wakelin, but the engagement of those present was lively.
It’s very deceptive on TV. The largest part of the crowds are further up, where the tickets are cheaper. Bizarrely, the best value on the first 3 days is actually to get a ticket for Table 3 or 4 – the small tables in the middle with the cheapest seats (about £35). That gives a (fairly distant) view of all 4 tables, but a very good view of the massive screens above the main Tables 1 and 2. The numbers have been growing steadily throughout the week. On Wednesday evening there were at least 1000, when Zhao beat Higgins. But it is a massive space.
Some sessions seemed okay but those mostly involved Zhao. The first semi-final had just 300 in according to the South China Morning Post. Snooker shouldn’t be doing these venues if it can’t even fill them properly at the weekend.
It’s not a good look when much was made of taking this event to Hong Kong.
O’Sullivan not drawing much of a crowd is a rarity.
Yes, it did seem like Zhao Xintong and to a lesser extent Ding Junhui were the most popular players. Zhao Xintong is of course World Champion and something of a local boy.
Whilst in Hong Kong, Ronnie O’Sullivan attended several other events, such as (small) exhibitions and book signings, opportunities for selfies. These were unticketed, and by accounts many people were queueing up for them. There was a fairly substantial “Q Zone” with a full-size snooker table, Heyball table and even table tennis and pickleball! Every day, between sessions, some players came along to give demonstrations, such as Zhou Yuelong, Chris Wakelin, Barry Hawkins, Mark Selby, Joe O’Connor and (briefly) Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The whole ‘Kai Tak’ area is a brand new development, and on a large scale. There’s a Kai Tak Mall, with many designer shops and restaurants, on 5 floors. But there’s still a lot of construction work, and it’s as yet quite sparsely populated.
Perhaps that’s because of the ‘redemption’ policy on tickets. We all got sent text messages with links to change sessions, after they changed the schedules for the first round. Under that policy, people could choose which semi-final they prefer to watch, at no extra cost. Amyway, I left Hong Kong before the weekend so I can’t report.
It’s OK to hold tournaments with excess capacity. It will always take some time to build up an event.
Zhao has won all four finals he’s contested on the main tour.
Zhao Xintong and Zhang Anda are both founder members of Victoria’s Academy in Sheffield, although both have spent time off the tour. Both players are based locally: Zhao can take a subway train back to Shenzhen in 30 mins, whilst Zhang would need a couple of hours for a train back to Shaoguan. However, Zhang’s 6-year old son was present in the Kai Tak Arena to see his father play for the first time.