ZHAO XINTONG became the latest victim of the Crucible curse after tumbling out of the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals.
The Chinese cueist shocked the world at last year’s event by becoming the first amateur-ranked player to win.
Zhao Xintong fell to the Crucible Curse after suffering a shock loss to Shaun Murphy Credit: Getty
The world No8 ousted the defending champion to advance to the semi-finals Credit: Alamy
But he was not breaking any such records this time around, succumbing to the Sheffield superstition – as did the 20 first-time champions before.
The curse is based around the fact that no debut winner of the event has ever successfully defended the title the following year.
And on Tuesday it reared its head again through the potting of Shaun Murphy, who upset the world No4 to book his spot in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Xintong must have been feeling good about his chances to buck the trend after winning the opening three frames to race into an early lead.
The Magician hit back with five unanswered frames of his own to put himself in the driver’s seat after the end of the first session.
Xintong held his nerve to rack up three frames with a score over a ton to level things up on Tuesday evening, heading into the final session of play the following afternoon.
But Xintong had Murphy and the weight of almost 50 years of history on his back, and he began to play like it as
Murphy was in his pomp, and couldn’t help but enjoy the occasion as he rounded off the 21st frame with an audacious trick shot to go within one frame of victory.
While lining up on a black to clear the table, Murphy decided against making the easy pot, instead sending it pinging off all four cushions before gently rolling into the corner pocket.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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