Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan suffered a 17-7 loss to a dominant Zhao Xintong as his World Championship semi-final came to an end a session early.
Zhao, 28, becomes only the second player from Asia to reach a Crucible final, nine years after his Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui, was runner-up to Mark Selby in 2016.
Leading 12-4, Zhao compiled breaks of 62 and 128, to dash any hopes O’Sullivan had of building some momentum after taking the first two frames of Friday evening’s session.
While O’Sullivan, who is level on seven Crucible crowns in the modern era with Stephen Hendry, took the first frame after the mid-session interval, Zhao exhibited an incredible temperament to round off the match.
In front of a crowd overwhelmingly urging 49-year-old O’Sullivan to take the contest into Saturday, Zhao compiled breaks of 85, 63 and 88 to seal the most famous victory of his career.
“I can’t believe that. I need to say thank you to Ronnie because he has helped me a lot before. He’s my idol,” Zhao told BBC Sport.
“It’s my first time playing on the single table here, it’s an amazing time for me and I just want to enjoy it because I don’t know how many times I can try to enjoy it here.
“I’ve played here and sometimes the crowd is helpful for Ronnie and he deserves that, he is a legend here so I needed to control myself.”
Zhao’s scintillating showing on Friday morning laid the platform when he became only the fourth player to win a session 8-0 against O’Sullivan at the Crucible.
It was reminiscent of the form he displayed on his way to the UK title in 2021 and he was able to maintain that later in the day to become only the second player since John Parrott in 1994 to defeat O’Sullivan with a session to spare at snooker’s most famous venue.
O’Sullivan, who has won a record 41 ranking events has made no secret about struggling with his cue since snapping his old one at the Championship League in January.
He turned up for his first-round match against Ali Carter with two cues from different manufacturers and has been constantly tinkering ever since.
That included two mid-match changes to his tip against Zhao and switching his ferrule from titanium to brass.
However, it did not have the desired impact as he missed a series of regulation pots against an opponent who punished him in ruthless fashion.
“I just felt like I never gave him a game so that’s a bit disappointing,” said O’Sullivan.
“Zhao deserved his victory. I think he’s done brilliantly all tournament and all credit to Zhao. He played better than me.”
