Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese player to win the World Snooker Championship with a victory over Welshman and three-times winner Mark Williams at the Crucible Theatre on Monday, the latest chapter in Zhao’s remarkable rise and fall story.

Zhao Xintong revealed the one thing he could splash out on after earning £500,000 in prize money from his maiden World Snooker Championship win, going against his manager's wishes

With “The Cyclone’s” victory demonstrating China's growing power in the sport, chair of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Jason Ferguson insists that snooker’s inclusion in the Olympic programme is now realistic.