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What Ronnie O'Sullivan said to Zhao Xintong after losing to Chinese star in their World Snooker Championship semi-final clash

Home> Snooker

Updated 22:44 2 May 2025 GMT+1Published 22:42 2 May 2025 GMT+1

What Ronnie O'Sullivan said to Zhao Xintong after losing to Chinese star in their World Snooker Championship semi-final clash

Ronnie O'Sullivan showed his class after losing to Zhao Xintong.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Featured Image Credit: World Snooker Championship

Topics: Ronnie OSullivan, Snooker

Nasir Jabbar
Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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@NasJabbar

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Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed what he said to Zhao Xintong following his crushing 2025 World Snooker Championship semi-final defeat.

O'Sullivan suffered a bruising 17-7 defeat to Chinese star Xintong, who delivered a stunning performance at the Crucible to dump the snooker legend out of this year's tournament.

The first session ended 4-4 as 'The Rocket' slammed his tip and ferrule on his cue.

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On Friday morning, Xintong, 28, battered O'Sullivan, 49, winning all eight frames as he led 12-4 ahead of the third session.

The talented left-hander notched the five frames needed to seal a 17-7 win, with a session to spare to book his place in the final against either Judd Trump or Mark Williams - making him just the second Chinese world championship finalist after Ding Junhui, who reached the final in 2016.

Despite his heavy defeat, O'Sullivan congratulated his opponent in a classy gesture.

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Speaking in his post-match presser, the seven-time world champion said he told Xintong to enjoy his moment during their warm embrace.

On Xintong, he added: "He's amazing, a great boy. It's great for the game. Fantastic for him to reach the final."

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Zhao Xintong shared a warm embrace following their match. Image: Getty
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Zhao Xintong shared a warm embrace following their match. Image: Getty

O'Sullivan, who sat out the past few months, added: "Zhao played good, he deserved his victory. I think he's done brilliantly all tournament and all credit to Zhao. He played better than me.

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"I've been awful for quite a while, those performances are in there, they've been coming out quite regularly recently.

"I'd like it to be [there], I'd just like to play alright and I just felt like I never gave him a game so that's a bit disappointing."

Xintong said: "I'm so happy. It's my first time in the final.

"I need to say a big thanks to Ronnie. He helped me so much."

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Xintong will face the winner of the other semi-final tie between Trump and Williams, which is evenly poised at 8-8 ahead of tomorrow's resumption.

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