Huntley said that Ding Junhui may be "stung" because of Zhao Xintong's achievements, which attracted a response from the parties

Chinese player Zhao Xintong was crowned king in the 2025 World Snooker Championship earlier this month, becoming the first Chinese snooker world champion.

Ding Junhui and Zhao Xintong are the only two Chinese players in history to reach the final of the World Championships

Zhao Xintong became the world champion, and the outside world always compares him with another Chinese player, Ding Junhui, because the 38-year-old is a "pioneer" of Chinese snooker, and many Chinese players who have risen in recent years regarded him as an idol when they were children.

After Zhao Xintong won the championship, billiards emperor Huntley said in a podcast, "Ding Junhui has always been a role model for Chinese snooker, and if I were him, I would be fuming." In China, snooker is equal to Ding Junhui, but overnight he is no more, which may sting him, who knows, but he must have a hard time accepting this fact. ”

Huntley added that he was not familiar with Ding Junhui, "Maybe he has a good relationship with Zhao Xintong and can be happy for each other, but if it were me, I would think that I couldn't become a world champion after working hard for so many years, but this person (Zhao Xintong) can come back after a two-year ban." ”

Billiards Emperor Huntley

Huntley believes that this is not just a single world champion, but Zhao Xintong replaced Ding Junhui as the "spokesperson" of Chinese snooker, "There are many large-scale exhibition matches and activities that originally invited Ding Junhui, but it will not be next, and I am looking forward to seeing what the chain reaction will be." ”

In fact, Ding Junhui posted congratulations to Zhao Xintong after winning the championship, "Someone finally rushed to the finish line on this runway.... What he has won is the common dream of generations of Chinese snooker (billiards) people! ”

Ding Junhui recently opened a live broadcast, saying that he sent text messages to communicate with Zhao Xintong before and after the game, and he refuted the statement of "being stung", "In fact, we Chinese are very united and will not disagree because of any rumors and speculation." We often have some exchanges abroad. He then quoted the words of the "China Youth Daily": "There is a kind of culture in the bones of the Chinese, you may not know, that is the truth of successive servants and passing on the torch, and I don't blame you if you don't understand." ”

Ding Junhui still failed to win the World Championships and stopped in the round of 16 at the 2025 World Championships

Ding Junhui, who turned professional as early as 2003, has won the British Championship three times, and once held the Masters trophy high, only missing the World Championships to complete the "Grand Slam" in the three major tournaments, and his most recent time with the world champion was a runner-up after Selby in 2016. On the contrary, Zhao Xintong won the British Championship in 2021 and is now at the top of the World Championships, and as long as he wins the Masters, he can become the first Chinese player to "Grand Slam".

Ding Junhui responded generously to this: "What if Zhao Xintong wins the Grand Slam earlier than me? I asked him to invite me to dinner, and the glory belonged to him, but the pride was for all of us. He believes that he and Zhao Xintong have their own wins and losses in terms of technology, mainly depending on the on-the-spot performance, "I am now trying to do something within my ability to make more people like snooker and develop this sport in China." He (Zhao Xintong) did what we all wanted to do, and he made me see the future of China. ”