China is edging closer to having its first world snooker champion after Zhao Xintong established an 11-6 lead over Mark Williams at the halfway point of the final at the Crucible Theatre on Sunday. Zhao needs to get to 18 frames to claim the sport's biggest prize,

Whoever wins the 2025 World Snooker Championship will be making history. We’ll have either the oldest world champion or the first Chinese world champion and both would be huge for the sport.If day one of the best-of-35 final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield is anything to go by,

Mark Williams will have to mount a fightback for the ages if he is to win his fourth world title, after succumbing to an outstanding display of snooker by Zhao Xintong, the rising star of the game, who has raced into a 7-1 lead in the final at The Crucible.