Zhao Xintong admits he 'didn't deserve to win' after black-ball heartbreak at China Open
A champion humbled on home soil
There is something uniquely cruel about a respotted black. All the drama of eleven frames, distilled into a single ball, a single moment — and then it's over. For Zhao Xintong, that moment arrived on a Tuesday evening in Taiyuan, and it left the reigning world champion without a single ranking point from a tournament many had tipped him to win.
Zhao had arrived at the China Open as the pre-tournament favourite, carrying the weight of expectation that comes with being the 2025 world champion and a player widely regarded as one of the most thrilling talents the sport has produced in years. But form is a fickle companion, and across eleven frames against Zhang Anda, it barely showed its face.
A fast start that couldn't last
To his credit, Zhao made the brighter beginning. Three half-century breaks in the opening three frames had the home crowd daring to dream, but Zhang Anda — a player who knows a thing or two about resilience — refused to buckle. The former International Championship winner responded with contributions of 134, 88 and 81 to swing the match decisively in his favour, moving into a 5-4 lead that suddenly made Zhao's task look very steep indeed.
What followed was the kind of deciding frame that makes snooker irresistible. The crowd in Taiyuan, engrossed and vocal, watched as neither player could land the killer blow — until eventually the colours came into play, and Zhang stepped up to sink the respotted black and complete a 6-5 victory that will live long in his memory.
'I probably didn't deserve to win'
In the aftermath, Zhao was disarmingly honest. "I made far too many mistakes today, and I probably didn't deserve to win," he told the World Snooker Tour. It was the kind of candid admission you don't always hear from elite sportspeople, and it spoke to a maturity that has grown alongside his game since his world title triumph.
He also offered a fascinating glimpse into how his thinking around shot selection has evolved. "People might think that I play quite aggressively, but I actually think I'm quite conservative now," he said. "There are a lot of shots that I don't go for as I used to, and that is also part of the process of improving." For fans who fell in love with the breathless, all-or-nothing Zhao of two or three years ago, that may be a surprise — but it reflects the calculated development of a player who intends to be at the top for a long time yet.
Even so, the defeat stung. "I had prepared well for coming to Shanxi this time, and I didn't expect to lose in the first round," he admitted. "I played too badly, and there was nothing I could do about it."
The rankings picture just got complicated
Beyond the sporting disappointment, there are real consequences for Zhao's ranking ambitions. A first-round exit means zero points from Taiyuan, and the dream of becoming world number one for the first time has taken a significant blow. Judd Trump — also eliminated from this event — is guaranteed to finish the China Open still occupying top spot, but the race to dislodge him at the Wuhan Open remains very much alive. Neil Robertson and Wu Yize are both still in contention in Taiyuan, and each has a genuine shot at closing the gap. With a first prize of £250,000 on offer, the stakes could hardly be higher.
For Zhang Anda, by contrast, this was exactly the kind of result his season needed. Once a top-16 fixture, the Chinese potter has spent recent years clawing his way back up the rankings, and beating the world champion — however the match panned out — is precisely the scalp that accelerates that journey. He was gracious in victory. "I feel very lucky," he said. "Today, we both didn't play very well. It was a black-ball game, always 50-50. I think today was just my day."
Elsewhere on day four
The rest of Tuesday's action provided its own moments of note. Stuart Bingham edged out John Higgins 6-4 in what amounted to a contest between two former world champions, while Chris Wakelin made it through by the same scoreline against Tom Ford. Hossein Vafaei, meanwhile, received a walkover into the last 16 following Mark Allen's withdrawal from the tournament before play began.
Wednesday brings the second round, and with it the return of Wu Yize and Ronnie O'Sullivan — two players who will be hoping to pick up where Zhao could not. In Taiyuan, the tournament rolls on. For Zhao, the long road to the Crucible defence begins again — and perhaps, somewhere in that brutally honest post-match reflection, so does the rebuilding.
