Zhao Xintong last night announced himself as one of the stars of our sport, with a superb 10-5 victory over Luca Brecel to claim the 2021 UK Championship title.
Zhao has been on the radar of those in the game for a long time & long flagged as one of the most talented players we've ever seen, but his career has not been plain sailing to this point. Just three years ago he fell off the tour, but bounced straight back on through Q School. Since then he's done ok ,but to this week, hadn't really been pulling up any trees.That all changed here though, as he produced a series of stunning performances on his way to the title.
For all the long potting, which was unbelievable by the way, it was also his style of play around the table that got people excited.He hits the ball so crisply, seeming to get maximum cueball control from little effort. It was said many times last week & I agree with it, that to watch him is reminiscent of watching a young Jimmy White. Perhaps though the most impressive thing of the lot was his ability to power through the finish line in his matches showing no fear of success. This above all else may be the thing that elevates him to the very top of the game.
This may also prove to be a big week in the career of Luca Brecel. His performance to beat Kyren Wilson in the semi final was snooker as well as it can be played. Luca has been around a while now and everyone knows how good he is, but if he's had one fault over the years , it has been in the shot selection department. The old adage that 90% of the game is playing the right shot is as true at the top of the game as it is down the club for a league match on a Tuesday night. It was good to hear him say in interviews this week that he is making a conscious effort this season to address this failing. That can only stand him in good stead for the future.
The joy and excitement we saw over the weekend was a far cry from the controversial early days of the tournament.The whole "amateurgate" controversy after Shaun Murphys comments overshadowed the early days & without getting in to it, I think Murphy will be the first to accept it was not the time to bring it all up. Worse still was Neil Robertson, who created the ultimate rod for his own back ,by weighing in to the debate before his match up with the "amateur" John Astley. Whether this has any bearing on the match we'll never know, but I'd say if he had his time again , he'd have kept his mouth shut.
The other great online debate of the early days came following the failure once again of Judd Trump to make a showing in a Triple Crown event. Its now 10 years since he won his only UK title & his record in the big ones is in sharp contrast to the other events on tour that he regularly hoovers up.The question is can he be considered a true great if his record doesn't improve in these events? Well of course the first thing to say is, it still can improve, he still has many years to go before we're assessing his ultimate place on the all time list, but for me ,even if as I expect, he becomes the first player to top 50 ranking titles , unless his Triple crown record improves, he wont be challenging the sports "Mt Rushmore".
The old "class of '92" all failed to reach the weekend ,with Willaims , still suffering the after effects of Covid, going out to Hamilton, Higgins falling in a decider to Zhao & Ronnie losing out in another decider to Kyren Wilson in the last 8. World champion Mark Selby also failed to make an impact, losing out to another young star in Hossein Vafaei.
On the back of all this ,there will be those who will suggest that we have now seen a changing of the guard in the sport, but such talk is certainly a bit premature. The current big names haven't gone away & they will be chomping at the bit to get back in ring, starting at this weeks Scottish Open. The one thing we did see yesterday & it was particularly apparent on social media, was a genuine excitement about the final. There is a feeling watching the triumph of Zhao Xintong, that we are getting in on the ground floor of what could be a glittering career. The future all of a sudden looks very bright.
