Mark Williams v Zhao Xintong LIVE: Score and updates from World Snooker Championship final

Out the players come, Zhao Xintong to the slightly strange strains of Redbone – I’ve heard worse walk-on music, in truth, but didn’t necessarily have the 28-year-old down as a fan. Apparently he became aware of it via the Marvel smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy.

Tom Jones croons Mark Williams out. Rather easier to find the Welsh connection there.

There was barely a wobble from Zhao Xintong in his first session of a World Championship final – though there were a couple of odd decisions yesterday evening, and his usually clean cueing just slipped slightly. It’s still a huge lead but Mark Williams will hope to force a few more nervy moments this afternoon.

We’re only a few minutes away from the players returning to the Crucible floor and getting the third session of this final underway.

Before then, here’s a reminder of what happened on day one as Zhao Xintong fought his way into a handy 11-6 lead:

It was an uphill struggle for Mark Williams on day one of the final yesterday but, perhaps crucially, he managed to win the final frame of the evening to narrow his deficit to 11-6.

Could we be looking back on this moment as a key turning point come the end of the day?

Ronnie O’Sullivan believes Zhao Xintong has what it takes to become the first Chinese winner of the World Snooker Championship, and with it a “megastar”, after beating the seven-time champion to reach the final.

O’Sullivan thinks 2021 UK Championship winner Zhao is capable of going all the way and feels it would be good for the sport if he did get his hands on the trophy.

He said: “I think it would be amazing. I think if he did win he would be a megastar.

“He’s still very big in China as it is. But if he becomes world champion it would just be amazing for snooker and for his life as well.

“He can definitely get over the line. He played great. You have to give credit where it’s due. We’ve got a really nice relationship. I’m always trying to help him if I can.”

Judd Trump has urged snooker’s authorities to act immediately to stamp out rowdy fan behaviour and avoid fostering a “darts atmosphere” at the sport’s biggest events.

Trump was visibly annoyed after a spectator shouted “can’t miss that Judd” during a crucial phase of his World Snooker Championship semi-final defeat by Mark Williams at the Crucible.

The world No 1 was trailing 14-11 when he potted a superb long red and an incredibly thin brown to get back into prime position, only to miss a relatively simple red to allow Williams to make another frame-winning contribution.

“We don’t really want the darts atmosphere,” Trump said when asked about the incident following his 17-14 defeat.

“It’s something we need to stamp out immediately. It’s a little annoying and hopefully we can stamp it out.”

A full quarter of a century after winning the World Snooker Championship for the first time at the age of 25, a now 50-year-old Mark Williams will try to claim a fourth world title when he strides out at the Crucible Theatre on Sunday afternoon.

If the veteran Welshman always exudes an air of nonchalance, no matter how high the stakes, surely even he will have one or two butterflies fluttering as he begins a best-of-35 encounter with Zhao Xintong, when he will take his place as the oldest finalist in Crucible history.

He didn’t outwardly show any nerves as he brushed aside world No 1 Judd Trump 17-14 in a captivating semi-final, turning a match that was 8-8 overnight into a relatively comfortable triumph, but afterwards acknowledged that he was feeling the pressure when Trump began to hit back from 16-12.

Read Luke Baker’s full report from the Crucible semi-final:

It was a compelling opening day of the final at the Crucible

After his semi-final win, Williams reflected on first coming across Zhao as a pre-teen in an exhibition event.

“I know he’s an amateur [in this tournament], but we all know he’s not an amateur,” said Williams. “I played him in an exhibition quite a few years ago. I think he was only about 12.

“There were about 500 people in there live, probably two or three million people watching on TV as it was in China. It was 1-1 in this exhibition and he went and knocked in breaks of 130 and 138 or so, and won 3-1, the little s***!

“And here we are 16 or 17 years later, I’m playing him in the world final, which is unbelievable.”

Mark Williams believes two legends of Welsh snooker will be watching over him as he takes on Zhao Xintong in the final of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

The proud Welshman claiming the crown would end a poignant 12 months for snooker in Wales on a high after six-time world champion Ray Reardon died last July and 1979 winner Terry Griffiths passed away in December.

They were both icons of the sport and Williams is keen to honouring them by lifting the trophy, while he believes both may give him a helping hand.