The Crucible has been home to some of the most significant moments in snooker history. Minds will spring immediately to Dennis Taylor’s dramatic triumph in 1985, or one of Stephen Hendry or Ronnie O’Sullivan’s many victories on the grandest stage this sport has to offer.

But on a mild Monday evening in Sheffield and 20 years on from the door for Chinese snooker being pushed ajar, Zhao Xintong may well have just changed the way the sport is viewed, played and followed for hundreds of millions of people in Asia and across the world.

It was 2005 when Ding Junhui’s victory in the UK Championship against Steve Davis gave snooker hope it could be about to usher in a wave of success from China. There are over 300,000 snooker halls in the country, where it is treated as a national sport. Over 150 million were watching this match in China. This is seriously big business.