- Live updates of the Crucible finale from 1pm
- Zhao leads 11-6 after rampant first day of final
- Drop Daniel an email with your thoughts
There’s a simple reason we’re all here today: love. We love the snook, we love the Cruce, we love the cliches and we love all the little bits and pieces. How is it, say, that on every day of every tournament, the incomparably knowledgeable Crucible audience also comprises the most mirthful people in the world? Does Rob Walker go on like that all the time, even, er, to Mrs Walker? Will Hazel manage to make anyone cry in interview?
So when someone threatens all of that – and much as we’d prefer not to – we’re well within our rights to feel a way about them. And that, I’m afraid, is the case with Zhao Xintong, poised to become China’s first world champion but also recently returned from a 20-month ban for his involvement in match-fixing.
