World Snooker Championship 2025: Ronnie O'Sullivan at Judd Trump

Seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan lost to Zhao Xintong 17-7 because his World Championship semi-finals were already over.

Zhao, 28, became the second player from Asia, his Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui won the runner-up for nine years in 2016.

Leading 12-4, Zhao brought together 62 and 128 breaks, and after participating in the first two frames of Friday night, O'Sullivan struggled to build some momentum.

Although O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry balanced among the seven Crucible titles of the modern era, taking over the first frame after mid-segment, Zhao showed an incredible temperament that could round the game.

In front of a group of people, 49-year-old O'Sullivan was urged to bring the game to Saturday, Zhao put together 85, 63 and 88 breaks to his most famous victory in his career.

“I can't believe it. I need to thank Ronnie because he has helped me a lot before. He is my idol,” Zhao told BBC Sport.

“This is my first time playing on a table here and it’s been an amazing time for me and I just want to enjoy it because I don’t know how many times I can try here.

“I’ve played here and sometimes the crowd is very helpful to Ronnie and he deserves his legend, so I need to control myself.”

Zhao laid the platform for his flash performance on Friday morning when he was only the fourth player to beat O'Sullivan 8-0 in the Crucible.

It reminded him of the form he showed on his way to the British Championship in 2021, and he was able to maintain the form later that day, becoming the second player since John Parrott in 1994 to beat O'Sullivan on Snooker's most famous venue.

O'Sullivan won a record 41 ranking matches and has not had a secret struggle since he snapped up his senior man in the Champions League in January.

He played in the first round with Ali Carter and had two tips from different manufacturers that have been tinkering ever since.

This included two comparison changes to Zhao's tip and transforming his ferrule from titanium to brass.

However, this did not have any ideal impact as he missed a series of opponents who punished him in cruel ways.

“I just feel like I never gave him a game, so it's a little disappointing,” O'Sullivan said.

“Zhao deserves his victory. I think he has completed all the tournaments, all thanks to Zhao. He has performed better than me.”