‘The whole country is proud’: Chinese snooker fans hail Zhao Xintong triumph

Crowning of country's first world champion set to give fresh boost to sport that has boomed in popularity in China

Chain smoking under the fluorescent lights of a cavernous billiards hall in Beijing, Brother Yuan can't stop smiling. The previous day, along with 150 million other people across China, he had been at home watching the snooker world championships final. Now he's with his fellow cue-heads, celebrating the win of China's first snooker world champion, Zhao Xintong.

He's a great role model for young people in China," Yuan, 55, says of the generation Z upstart who on Monday claimed snooker's top prize. He's bringing the excitement back."