Yeah, this is a final nobody would have guessed before the start of the tournament.
I guess Zhao will be the favorite but it will probably be close.
Zhao is very young player but super talented. I read curios tweet about him, I don't remember exact age or where it happen but Mark Alen had exhibition matches organized in his honor somewhere, one of the kids was Zhao and he won 2:1 against Allen while hitting a century. I want to say he had 15 years but not sure again.
Zhao Xintong currently 28 years old with his suspension ended on 1st September 2024 which was started in January 2023 due to involvement in match fixing with few other chines players.
He was one of the best in business but sadly due to his these activities he was out of game for long time now back and started his career with currently leading against Mark Williams in final with the score of 7–1.
After watching his few achievements I believe he is surely one of the best talents but sadly gone on wrong side and face consequences as well but now doing impressive again and winning this big event.