Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese player to win the World Snooker Championship with a victory over Welshman and three-times winner Mark Williams at the Crucible Theatre on Monday, the latest chapter in Zhao’s remarkable rise and fall story.

With “The Cyclone’s” victory demonstrating China's growing power in the sport, chair of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Jason Ferguson insists that snooker’s inclusion in the Olympic programme is now realistic.

China is edging closer to having its first world snooker champion after Zhao Xintong established an 11-6 lead over Mark Williams at the halfway point of the final at the Crucible Theatre on Sunday. Zhao needs to get to 18 frames to claim the sport's biggest prize,