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.

The long-overdue moment that a first Chinese winner of the World Snooker Championship finally arrived was supposed to be one of unalloyed joy. Yet now it’s here, there is an air of hesitancy around the celebrations – entirely because the man in question is Zhao Xintong.

In one of the most remarkable career turnarounds in sports, Zhao Xintong left behind the ghosts of match-fixing ban and became the world snooker champion after beating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final on Monday.