Zhao Xintong Completes Stunning Players Series Sweep With Dominant Tour Championship Win Over Trump
A Night That Belonged to Zhao
There was a moment midway through the evening session at the Manchester Arena on Sunday when Judd Trump — the world number one, a man who has spent years dismantling opponents with his breathtaking attacking game — simply had nowhere to go. Frame after frame, Zhao Xintong was simply too good, too composed, too relentless. By the time the final red disappeared and the winning colours followed, the scoreboard read 10-3, and the 2026 Tour Championship had a worthy, emphatic champion.
Zhao, 29, lifted the trophy with the kind of performance that makes you stop and recalibrate just how good this young man has become. It was his sixth ranking title on the main tour — and crucially, it kept intact an extraordinary record: Zhao has now reached six finals in his professional career and won every single one of them. That kind of composure under pressure is rare in this sport. It's the sort of statistic that, when you first hear it, sounds like an exaggeration. It isn't.
How the Final Unfolded
The match began with Zhao seizing the initiative, knocking in breaks of 64 and 68 to take a swift 2-0 lead. Trump, to his credit, steadied himself and reeled off the next two frames to level, hinting that we might be in for a proper contest. But Zhao had other ideas. Runs of 91 and 98 pushed him out to a commanding 5-2 advantage, and though Trump salvaged the final frame of the afternoon session to close to 5-3, it ultimately felt like a stay of execution rather than a genuine turning of the tide.
When the players returned under the lights, Zhao was simply immaculate. He won all five frames of the evening session without reply, with Trump — who was reportedly struggling with his cue tip throughout — unable to construct the kind of heavy scoring that typically defines his game. When the world number one is misfiring, you have to take full advantage. Zhao did precisely that.
'Judd Trump Is My Favourite Player'
In the aftermath, Zhao was warm and gracious in his on-table interview with Rob Walker, even offering a generous nod to the man he had just comprehensively beaten. "I'm really happy that tonight I could win the final," he said. "Judd Trump is my favourite player, so I know that he is a very, very good player. Tonight I played really well."
He was also refreshingly candid about the circumstances that played into his favour. "I know that Trump had some problems with his tip, which gave me some easy chances. I was lucky tonight, but I'm really happy," Zhao added — though most watching would argue that luck had very little to do with a 10-3 scoreline. "It was a very important win for me, and it's a big moment in my career. I was hoping that I could keep going and not lose in the final."
The Players Series Sweep — An Unprecedented Achievement
What elevates this victory beyond a routine ranking title is what it represents in the broader context of this season. With the Tour Championship secured, Zhao has now won all three events in the Players Series — adding this to his earlier triumphs at the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship. It is the first time any player has swept the entire Players Series in a single season, an achievement that places Zhao firmly in the conversation about the form player of the modern era.
"I can't believe that," he said, when the full magnitude of the achievement was put to him. "It's amazing for me, and it's an amazing moment for my career. I'm really happy about that." There was something endearing about watching a player of his obvious quality still registering genuine surprise at what he had accomplished.
All Roads Lead to Sheffield
The World Snooker Championship is now just weeks away, and with it comes a question that will dominate the build-up: can Zhao Xintong break the so-called Curse of the Crucible? No reigning world champion has successfully defended their title at the Crucible Theatre since Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2013 — and even the greatest players in the sport's history have found that particular monkey impossible to shake off. Zhao heads to Sheffield as the top seed, with Trump seeded second on the opposite half of the draw, guaranteeing a potential final rematch.
Zhao himself is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge — or the nerves that will accompany his return as defending champion. "I'm definitely going to be nervous returning to the Crucible as the defending champion," he admitted. "I just want to try to enjoy this occasion. I'm far away from being at my best, but I'll try to get better."
For now, though, Manchester belonged to him. Six finals, six titles, and a Players Series sweep that nobody has managed before. Whatever happens next in Sheffield, Zhao Xintong is already writing one of the most compelling chapters in modern snooker.