Zhao Xintong

In June 2012, Zhao defeated Xiao Guodong, Kevin McMahon, and Yu Delu to reach the last 16 of the Zhangjiagang Open, where he lost 3‍–‍4 to Stephen Lee. He built on this success by reaching the second round of two Asian Tour Events: the Yixing Open and the Zhengzhou Open.

As a wildcard entrant, he defeated former world champion Ken Doherty at the professional ranking tournament, the 2012 International Championship. He then lost in a 5‍–‍6 to Matthew Stevens in the last 32. Having also earned his way to the last 32 of two other events, Zhao began to gain a reputation as a "Wildcard Menace".

He beat six-time world champion Steve Davis 6‍–‍1 at the 2013 International Championship. Davis later described Zhao as "astonishingly good" and compared him with a young Ronnie O'Sullivan. Zhao reached the third round of the competition and was defeated 2‍–‍6 by Marco Fu; the following year, he defeated Fu in the first round of the 2014 Shanghai Masters. In late 2013, he entered the World Amateur Championship and reached the final, where he lost 4‍–‍8 to his fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong, missing the chance to join the main professional snooker tour for the 2014‍–‍15 season.

Zhao was narrowly defeated in the first round of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship in April 2015. He won three matches in the first event of the 2015 Q School before losing 3‍–‍4 to Alexander Ursenbacher in the penultimate round. He reached the final round of the second Q School event but lost 3‍–‍4 to Duane Jones in a finish in the deciding frame. He completed a 6‍–‍0 of Stuart Carrington to qualify for the 2015 International Championship, where he lost 2‍–‍6 to John Higgins in the first round. Zhao made his first appearance in a Triple Crown event at the 2015 UK Championship but lost 2‍–‍6 to Mark Allen in the first round. He qualified for the German Masters and the Welsh Open in 2016 but was knocked out in the opening round of both events. He reached the final of the World Amateur Championship in 2015, losing 6‍–‍8 to Pankaj Advani. As runner-up, Zhao received a two-year tour card for the main professional tour when Advani declined the invitation.

Zhao met Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the 2016 English Open. Breaks of 130, 107 and 80 gave him a 3‍–‍2 lead, but he missed chances to take the win and was defeated 3‍–‍4. O'Sullivan said afterwards that Zhao's attacking style of play had reminded him of seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry at a similar age. Zhao qualified for the 2017 German Masters by beating Li Hang 5‍–‍3 and John Higgins 5‍–‍1, and a 5‍–‍0 whitewash of Sunny Akani saw Zhao reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. He held a narrow 4‍–‍3 advantage over Ali Carter but lost the last two frames. He also reached the third round of the Gibraltar Open before losing 3‍–‍4 to Mark Williams.

Zhao was not ranked high enough at the end of the 2017‍–‍18 season to retain his spot on the World Snooker Tour, so he entered 2018 Q School in a bid to win back his place. He defeated Dechawat Poomjaeng in the second event final of Q School to regain his professional status. He reached his first professional ranking semi-finals at the 2018 China Championship, where he lost 4‍–‍6 to Mark Selby. He progressed to the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open, losing 2‍–‍5 to eventual finalist Stuart Bingham. Zhao qualified for the World Snooker Championship for the first time in 2019 but lost 7‍–‍10 to Selby in the first round.

In the 2019‍–‍20 season, Zhao reached the last 16 stage of four ranking events and the quarter-finals of the 2020 German Masters, elevating his world ranking to 29th by the end of the season. Snooker professionals Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Alan McManus all suggested at the time that Zhao could potentially become a leading player in world snooker due to his enormous potential. In December 2020, Zhao reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix; after beating Jamie Jones 4‍–‍2 in the first round and John Higgins 4‍–‍3 in the second, he was defeated 3‍–‍5 by Jack Lisowski.

Zhao claimed his first ranking title at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luca Brecel 10‍–‍5 in the final; the win elevated Zhao to ninth in the snooker world rankings. By entering the elite "top 16", he qualified for the invitational 2022 Masters for the first time, where he played John Higgins in the first round but lost the match 2‍–‍6.

He defeated Yan Bingtao 9‍–‍0 in the final of the 2022 German Masters to claim his second ranking title. Zhao became only the third player, after Steve Davis and Neil Robertson, to win a two-session ranking final by a whitewash. At the 2022 World Snooker Championship, he defeated Jamie Clarke in the first round but lost in the second round to Stephen Maguire.

In January 2023, the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), suspended Zhao as part of a match-fixing investigation involving ten Chinese players. On 6 June 2023, an independent disciplinary commission ruled that Zhao had not himself fixed any matches, and his involvement was limited to placing bets on behalf of another player (Yan Bingtao) on two of Yan's matches. Zhao was ruled "liable as a party to" the two match fixes in question, which both took place in March 2022: Yan vs Ricky Walden at the 2022 Welsh Open and Yan vs Oliver Lines at the 2022 Turkish Masters. The ruling stated that Zhao had "shown genuine remorse for his actions".

The commission noted the circumstances contributing to Zhao's actions, pointing out that the Chinese players involved in the case lived in close proximity to one another, were "heavily reliant on each other socially and financially", and unable to return to their native China during the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation they found themselves in may have led to loneliness, boredom and isolation, as well as facing the pressure of financial difficulties leading to the onset of "ill-judged gambling and betting habits". It was also noted that the young Chinese players were "particularly susceptible to influence and manipulation from the older Chinese snooker players, who took them under their wing".

Zhao was banned for 30 months and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs, but the WPBSA reduced the ban to 20 months because of Zhao's early admissions and his guilty plea. The Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) upheld the original 30-month ban. WPBSA regulations state that players need to be in "good standing" with their national federation to compete on the World Snooker Tour. The chair of the WPBSA, Jason Ferguson, then confirmed that Zhao's 30-month ban would apply only to events sanctioned and governed by the CBSA. He was therefore eligible to enter the 2024‍–‍25 Q Tour after 1 September 2024 (the date on which the WPBSA ban expired), as well as any other amateur competition not sanctioned by the CBSA.

After his competitive ban had expired, Zhao joined the amateur Q Tour in the hope of regaining professional status; his first post-ban match was in September 2024 at Q Tour Event 2 in Sofia. In October, he won Q Tour Event 3 in Stockholm; in the final frame of his 4‍–‍1 win over Shaun Liu in the last-64, Zhao became the first player to make a maximum break on the Q Tour. He won Q Tour Event 4 in Manchester in November, defeating Ryan Davies 4‍–‍2 in the final. On his run to the trophy, he made another maximum break in his 4‍–‍1 quarter-final win over Oliver Sykes, as well as three centuries in defeating Craig Steadman 4‍–‍1 in the semi-finals.

On 5 November 2024, the WPBSA and WST announced that Zhao would be invited to play in the UK Championship (an event he had won in 2021) as a WPBSA qualifier, on account of his winning Q Tour Event 3. He won four qualifying matches to progress to the main stage of the UK Championship but was then eliminated 5‍–‍6 by Shaun Murphy in the first round. Zhao won Q Tour Event 5 in Vienna in December 2024 and Q Tour Event 6 in Mons, Belgium, in January 2025, defeating Australian Ryan Thomerson 4‍–‍2 and Iran's Ehsan Heydari Nezhad 4‍–‍1 in the finals, respectively; at this stage, he had won four straight events and 32 consecutive matches on the Q Tour. His performance in Event 6 guaranteed his place at the top of the Q Tour Europe rankings list, which secured him a new two-year tour card for the 2025‍–‍26 season. Finishing top of the Q Tour Europe rankings list also granted Zhao a spot in the qualifying draw for the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

He won all four of his qualifying matches at the World Championship, earning himself a place in the main stage of the tournament—only the third amateur-ranked player ever to do so. He defeated Jak Jones 10‍–‍4, Lei Peifan 13‍–‍10 and Chris Wakelin 13‍–‍5 to reach the semi-finals, where he beat seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 17‍–‍7 with a . He then defeated Mark Williams 18‍–‍12 in the final to win his first world title. Zhao became the first Chinese player, the first Asian player, and the first amateur to win the World Snooker Championship. He was the fourth player to have won the title after appearing in the qualification event; the other three qualifiers who went on to lift the world trophy were Alex Higgins in 1972, Terry Griffiths in 1979, and Murphy in 2005.

As a result of winning the title, Zhao attained professional status based on ranking points attained during the season, and he entered the world snooker rankings at number 11. The tour card that Zhao had previously attained by topping the Q Tour Europe rankings was awarded to Dylan Emery, who had finished in second place. Zhao finished the 2024‍–‍25 season having played 49 matches since his return to competition and winning 47 of them. He was barred from entering events in mainland China until July 2025, as his original 30-month competitive ban was upheld by the CBSA.

Zhao's first tournament of the new season after winning the World Championship was the 2025 Shanghai Masters. He reached the semi-finals where he was defeated 5‍–‍10 by Kyren Wilson. This was the end of a 26-match winning streak for Zhao, following his first-round loss to Murphy at the UK Championship the previous year.