The latter captured a maiden World Snooker Championship title on Monday with an 18-12 triumph over Mark Williams at the Crucible Theatre.
It completed a remarkable month for the 28 year-old in Sheffield, who began the competition in the very first round of qualifying.
Zhao won four matches in the preliminary phase at the English Institute of Sport before storming his way through each round at the venue stages – winning nine matches in total.
A first world snooker champion from China, he has become the game’s biggest rising star.
His attacking style of play and a boyish charm have endeared him to many, and authorities will hope to capitalise on these attributes by seizing the opportunity to promote his profile on a global level.
But Zhao’s rapid rise back to the top of the game following the conclusion of his ban has not been without controversy.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association plus the World Snooker Tour have come in for serious criticism, particularly from other professional players on the circuit.
At the forefront of the discussion is whether or not Zhao should have been allowed to compete during the 2024/25 campaign at all.
The former world number six’s WPBSA ban ended in September last year but he is still technically banned by his national governing body until July this year.
The normal stance is that a player who isn’t in good standing with their national federation can’t participate in WPBSA tournaments.
If that stipulation had been followed as usual, Zhao would not have been able to enter the amateur Q Tour circuit, which is ultimately how he obtained an invitation to participate in the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
“This point was made to anyone in World Snooker and the WPBSA who would listen at the time,” Shaun Murphy said on the OneFourSeven Snooker Podcast.
“Asking the question, how can a player who is still banned by their own governing body be seen and be deemed to be in good standing?”
“And therefore be allowed to enter WPBSA events such as Q Tour – that was a question that was asked about ten months ago before the start of the season that’s just ended.
“It seemed fairly black and white to most of us that he wasn’t in good standing with his national governing body.
“There are lots of other players that this has and does and will apply to. You can’t just go around joining federations and tournaments as you see fit.
“You have to be in good standing. The question we all asked was, how can a player who is still banned be deemed to be in good standing?
“I’m yet to hear a satisfactory answer from anyone at WPBSA Towers or the tour, so I don’t know the answer.
“It struck me as odd. I think a lot of players have the same view. It was something that was discussed at length by the Players’ Board in conjunction with the WPBSA.
“We were told that, despite him being still banned by his NGB in China, that WPBSA considered him to be in good standing. That was the answer.
“We said, ‘hang on a minute, he’s still banned but you’re not recognising that?’
“The argument I’ve seen a lot is that he’s been away from the game – he didn’t take a gap year, he didn’t go on a sabbatical to go and feed refugees somewhere.
“There was an enforced suspension, because he’d done something wrong. He’s done the crime, he did his time, and therefore should be allowed back.
“But that’s where it gets a bit sticky, because there is an argument being made that he didn’t do his time.
“That’s a big problem for a lot of people that raised it at the time, and it’s still being raised today.
“There’s a lot of people of the view that, actually, had he have served his full ban and come back to the sport when he was in good standing with his NGB, as per the WPBSA rules by the way, no one would have a word to say about it.
“It’s a strange one. Jason Ferguson was on telly over the weekend saying that it’s unprecedented and this and that – that we’ve never seen it before.
“Then in another interview, [he was] saying there are rules in place for this type of thing, and it’s happened before, and the rules are well established.
“Which one is it? We don’t know.”
Second on the list of grievances is the situation involving Zhao’s ranking, with the new Crucible king immediately rejoining the top 16 in 11th on the back of his £500,000 champion’s cheque.
Amateur players are allowed to keep prize money and can secure their professional status for the upcoming campaign through performances as top-ups.
But the wording in the players’ entry pack seemed to clearly state that those earnings couldn’t then translate into ranking points, and Zhao should in fact be starting the 2025/26 term on zero.
“It’s a very small nuance in the system, which has never been exploited or seen before, and there are a few different things at play here,” Shaun Murphy continued.
“Because he’s won the World Championship, he will be seeded number two for every tournament next season.”
“That happened to me and it’s happened to a few others who weren’t ranked that highly, but because of the benefit of winning the World Championship, you’re seeded two for everything.
“So whether he starts on zero points or 500,000 points, he’s going to get the rewards of being the number two seed. He’s going to be in everything.
“[But] the rules of the tour and the entry pack for the tour are as follows where this is concerned.
“These are the words: ‘An amateur player can qualify for the top 64. However, their ranking points will always reset to zero at the start of each season.’
“Those are the words in the terms of entry in our players’ contract that we all sign, that everyone signs up to every year, [and] that’s just been very publicly renegotiated.
“WST have decided to totally change the rules. They’ve come out with a statement saying they agree that it could have been worded better, but what we meant was this.
“Something along those lines – ‘what we should have said was this, or what we meant was X’. The players are in uproar about it frankly.
“This actually has nothing to do with Zhao Xintong. He just happens to be the player that this has happened to.
“But the rules are clear. An amateur player is invited in to play as a top-up, if they earn enough points, they can qualify and earn their right to be a pro into the top 64.
“That’s always been the case, that isn’t new. I think he is the first to do it, but that’s not a new thing.
“What is a new thing is WST’s decision – a staggering decision, a jaw-dropping decision – to totally ignore the wording of their own contract.
“It is black and white, it’s what we’ve all agreed to, and it isn’t as things stand how World Snooker Tour are proceeding.
“And just to make this absolutely clear, this is nothing to do with Xintong. Nobody has got a problem with Zhao Xintong.
“This is about World Snooker Tour riding roughshod over our players’ contract, which we renegotiated in good faith and signed in good faith.
“And they’ve just decided to ignore it and rewrite it as they see fit.”
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