Snooker Momentum: Zhao Xintong’s five-title surge raises the bar for early-season form

Zhao Xintong’s commanding win at the Players Championship in Telford reframes how players and fans should read early-season snooker momentum. The 28-year-old closed out a 10-7 victory over John Higgins with four straight frames from 7-6 down, marking his fifth ranking title and a second consecutive ranking triumph—an accelerated performance curve that several established names have hit in the past.

Snooker performance trend: why Zhao’s run matters for the season

This isn’t just another trophy. Zhao’s sequence—winning back-to-back ranking events and collecting five ranking titles overall—creates a measurable shift in expectations for the months ahead. Here’s the part that matters: a player who can parlay a close contest into a four-frame finish under pressure signals consistency at the highest level, and that changes how opponents will approach matches and tournament planning.

Final session snapshot and the match outcome

The Players Championship final in Telford ended 10-7 in Zhao’s favour. The match featured multiple momentum swings: Higgins opened 2-0, Zhao drew level, and Zhao first led 4-3 before Higgins replied with a 90-scored frame to square the contest again. They traded frames into the evening session; from 7-6 down Zhao responded with successive centuries and then closed out the match with relative ease across the final frames.

Career pattern and the rare benchmark Zhao has joined

At 28, Zhao’s victory follows a triumph at the World Grand Prix earlier this month and pushes his tally to five ranking-event wins. He becomes the fourth player to win all of his first five ranking finals, joining a short list of names who reached the same milestone: Steve Davis, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson. That sequence—five-for-five in opening ranking finals—is the specific pattern now associated with Zhao’s early-career trajectory.

• Zhao’s fifth ranking title arrives immediately after a World Grand Prix win earlier this month.
• He closed the Players Championship final with four consecutive frames from 7-6 down to win 10-7.
• Successive centuries in the late stages turned a closely contested match into a decisive finish.
• He joins three other players who won their first five ranking finals.

Higgins’ near-miss and his reaction

The result denied John Higgins, age 50, a ranking-event victory that would have made him the oldest winner of such an event. Higgins, who opened strongly in the final and produced several momentum swings, praised Zhao’s closing sequence and described the late frames as near-flawless work, saying his children had been fortunate to have watched that level of play and predicting Zhao would be a leading contender at the World Championship this year. The match contained a notable 90-scored frame from Higgins that briefly evened the contest after Zhao had taken a narrow lead.

What’s easy to miss is how the match narrative shifted: early lead changes gave way to late-stage dominance once Zhao produced back-to-back centuries and then finished four frames on the trot.

Timeline, implications and short-term signals

Micro timeline:

• Higgins began the final with a 2-0 lead before Zhao levelled the match.
• Zhao first led 4-3; Higgins responded with a 90 to draw level again.
• From 7-6 down, Zhao produced successive centuries and won four straight to finish 10-7.

The real question now is how opponents adapt to Zhao’s ability to switch into a high-run gear late in matches. Confirmation of a persistent form shift would be further deep runs or continued title collection in the next major events; conversely, a dip in consistency would suggest this remains a hot streak rather than a sustained step-change.

Quick practical takeaways for followers of the sport: Zhao’s run raises his short-term tournament profile, creates matchup headaches for seeded players, and sets a recent standard for closing out tight finals in big events. If you’re wondering why this keeps coming up, it’s because the specific pattern—five ranking wins and back-to-back titles—puts Zhao into a rare historical category that directly influences seeding expectations and opponent game plans.

The real test will be whether that late-match potency reappears in upcoming championship events; until then, the immediate signal is clear: Zhao Xintong’s form is a defining story of this stage of the season.