On Monday, Shaun Murphy complained about the “despicable” treatment he received from Matchroom. Mind you he had to play first only four days after a long trip back from China, where he had reached the QFs in Nanjing. Yesterday, Zhao Xintong who won the 2025 International Championship in Nanjing on Sunday, arrived from China, around 7:30 in the morning , traveled to Leicester and won his group … 😇 … nuffink said…

Here is the report shared by WST:

Zhao Wins Black-Ball Thriller Against Wilson

World Champion Zhao Xintong won a dramatic deciding frame on the final black to beat Kyren Wilson 6-5 and reach the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Champion of Champions in Leicester.

Zhao, who beat Mark Allen 4-0 earlier in the day, said: “I just tried my best out there and I’m really happy with how I played today. I missed a few shots and Kyren took full advantage to go 5–3 ahead. I didn’t want to let him win too easily — I wanted to make it a real battle. I just kept fighting, stayed focused, and managed to come back. I was a bit lucky in the last two frames, especially with the final black, but sometimes you need that. I’m just happy to make it through to my first Champion of Champions semi-final.”

Tuesday’s action began with a tremendous battle between Wilson and recently crowned Northern Ireland Open champion Jack Lisowski. Runs of 88, 115 and 60 put Wilson 3-0 up before Lisowski recovered to 3-3 with a top break of 115, only for Wilson to take the decider with a 122. China’s Zhao began his quest to win this event for the first time by white-washing Allen with breaks of 68, 88, 119 and 76.

In the group final, Zhao took a 3-1 advantage with breaks of 73, 99 and 78, then Wilson hit back with 104, 62, 120 and 88 to lead 5-3. Zhao recovered with 136 and 64 for 5-5 and had first chance in the decider, making 58. Wilson replied with 54 to take it to the last black, but his attempted pot from distance to a top corner rattled in the jaws, went twice across the table and finished in the mouth of the same pocket. Zhao tapped it in to set up a semi-final with Judd Trump on Friday night.

On Wednesday, defending champion Mark Williams opens against World Seniors Champion Alfie Burden, while Leicester’s own Mark Selby takes on Scotland’s Stephen Maguire.

That Zhao v Wilson final yesterday was quality. The event may not be ranking but every player involved badly wants to win!

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