Disgraced snooker star banned over match-fixing WINS on World Championship return as both 2024 finalists are dumped out

ZHAO XINTONG has knocked Jak Jones out of the World Championships.

The disgraced snooker player was making his return to the Crucible having previously been banned from playing.

Xintong, 28, was serving a 20-month ban after being caught up in the match-fixing storm that involved 10 Chinese players.

He had accepted that he was a party to another player fixing two snooker contests on separate occasions in March 2022.

And on top of his 20-month ban, Xintong also had to pay £7,500 in costs.

He returned to snooker in the Q Tour after his suspension expired in September last year.

Xintong showed that he still had his ability with the cue on his return to the World Championship.

He even benefited from some luck in the first frame as a shot on the blue fortunately cannoned into the middle pocket.

Jones was the 16th seed in the tournament and had reached the final against Kyren Wilson last year.

He outclassed Welsh cueman 10-4 in their round one clash to progress to the next round.

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Xintong will now face Lei Peifan, who knocked out world champion Wilson, in the last 16.

He has previously been hailed as an exciting talent by snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The Rocket said: “The last time I was this excited about a player was when I saw Stephen Hendry play when I was only about nine years old.

“Zhao is the only one who made me think ‘Wow, he could be something special’.

“He could be the greatest of all time with his talent, his ability.

“I always say he’s Roger Federer with a snooker cue in his hands. He’s like me, he’s a quick learner.”

Wilson was 6-2 up in his match with Peifan before the Chinese ace came back to win.

He looked haunted at times as he lost 10-9 to brilliant debutant Lei Peifan, who claimed EIGHT of the last 11 frames of an enthralling contest.

List of all-time Snooker World Champions

BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.

The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.

The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.

Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.

Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.

1969 – John Spencer 1970 – Ray Reardon 1971 – John Spencer 1972 – Alex Higgins 1973 – Ray Reardon (2) 1974 – Ray Reardon (3) 1975 – Ray Reardon (4) 1976 – Ray Reardon (5) 1977 – John Spencer (2) 1978 – Ray Reardon (6) 1979 – Terry Griffiths 1980 – Cliff Thorburn 1981 – Steve Davis 1982 – Alex Higgins (2) 1983 – Steve Davis (2) 1984 – Steve Davis (3) 1985 – Dennis Taylor 1986 – Joe Johnson 1987 – Steve Davis (4) 1988 – Steve Davis (5) 1989 – Steve Davis (6) 1990 – Stephen Hendry 1991 – John Parrott 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2) 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3) 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4) 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5) 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6) 1997 – Ken Doherty 1998 – John Higgins 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7) 2000 – Mark Williams 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 2002 – Peter Ebdon 2003 – Mark Williams (2) 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 2005 – Shaun Murphy 2006 – Graeme Dott 2007 – John Higgins (2) 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 2009 – John Higgins (3) 2010 – Neil Robertson 2011 – John Higgins (4) 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4) 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5) 2014 – Mark Selby 2015 – Stuart Bingham 2016 – Mark Selby (2) 2017 – Mark Selby (3) 2018 – Mark Williams (3) 2019 – Judd Trump 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) 2021 – Mark Selby (4) 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7) 2023 – Luca Brecel 2024 – Kyren Wilson

Most World Titles (modern era)

7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams 2 – Alex Higgins