More signs that we're seeing a different Mark Williams tonight.

He pots a fine red and then goes full-blooded to pot a black along the cushion dead weight. If he missed, he was leaving a lot.

But shortly afterwards, a pink to the left centre does not drop and Zhao Xintong will get a first chance to make a meaningful contribution this evening.

Shaun Murphy
2005 world champion on BBC Two

Everyone on their way to taking home this beautiful trophy has a little wobble. For most players this is their life's work. You are stood about to climb Mount Everest and sometime it will hit. It is going to hit Zhao Xintong at some stage.

Hope you enjoy the evening, Daniel...

Mark Williams' highest break of the match - an effort of 86 - earns the world number six only his second frame of the final.

A frame won in one visit, the deficit reduced to five.

Comeback on?

Ken Doherty
1997 world champion on BBC Two

This is a good start. This is exactly what Mark Williams was hoping for.

Williams on a break of 55 and counting, with reds available to secure the frame at this visit.

Zhao Xintong was distracted by a fly while compiling a break during one of the frames this afternoon and it proved a worthy opponent before it eventually flew elsewhere.

Image source, Reuters

Mark Williams needs a fast start and he's knocked in a couple of early pots that will give himself and his supporters some hope.

Shaun Murphy
2005 world champion on BBC Two

Zhao Xintong is just fabulous to watch. He plays with an exuberance, he just goes for his shots. He has that confidence oozing out of him. He's just unstoppable at the moment.

At some stage, he will realise what he's achieving. When that happens, Mark Williams has to be close enough to hit him.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

It's not the greatest surprise [what happened in the first session]. Mark has had a tough run and he put some effort into beating Judd in the semi-final. Then to go to work again so soon, sometimes there can be a reaction the next day.

Mark is one of the game's great battlers. The trouble is that his opponent gets in and doesn't just make 30, he makes 80 breaks. So he's going to need a bit of help.

MC Rob Walker has introduced the two players and we're about to get going again.

Mark Williams gave a few fist bumps to members of the crowd as he made his way down the steps - he's going to need a huge session tonight.

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

In both of the two previous Crucible finals, the player who finished their semi-final second ended up trailing after the first session.

Jak Jones (7-1) recovered to 11-6, while Mark Selby got back to 9-8 behind but ultimately neither were able to turn those contests around against eventual champions Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel respectively.

But it would be foolish to rule out a Mark Williams fightback.

Give or take a few days, it is 25 years since he recovered from a 13-7 deficit to defeat Matthew Stevens in the 2000 final.

The BBC Two coverage has started with some of the stories of this and previous World Snooker Championships.

I can't remember one in recent times that I've enjoyed more than this one - it's really been a pleasure to follow and work on.

The standard of play has been sensational and along the way we've had plenty of stories; Ronnie's return, the "Crucible curse" striking down another victim, Mark's maximum, Judd's ton of tons, the 'Class of 92' delivering a final-frame classic...

And there is one more story to be written to conclude the 2025 tournament.

BBC Two

Watch the second session of the final on BBC Two, the BBC iPlayer or at the top of this page via the "Watch and listen" tab.

JamieMcn7: Ouch...Mark Williams will need to dig as deep as his career experience will go here. If he loses the session tonight, it might be over before the match is due for its conclusion tomorrow evening.

Sho Rahman: Zhao reminds me so much of a young Ronnie the way he plays and the speed he plays at. His mentality as well.

Innov8tor: At this rate might the BBC need to dust off a whole 6-edition series of ‘Coast’ for Monday evening?

Mark Williams has plenty of work to do if he is to mount a comeback in this final.

The Welshman, who began the tournament ranked sixth in the world, is aiming to join a select group of players to have won the World Snooker Championship on four or more occasions.

Here is the story of his three successes to date at the Crucible...

Later in the conversation, former world champion Ken Doherty asked WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson about how Zhao Xintong's success as an amateur would affect other players.

Doherty: "The big question about his points, his prize money - a lot of players are a bit up in arms about it that the rules might have been changed that if he wins this championship and keeps his prize money, when he should be going back to scratch."

Ferguson: "It's not actually a rule change, It's a scenario that has never happened before. Amateur players do enter events from time to time, but they never break into the top 64 because they only come in for one or two events. It's the first time we've seen this where someone has broken through. In that scenario, the player retains those points because they are deemed a professional player and joins the professional tour by retaining that top-64 position."

Presenter Hazel Irvine asked what happens if Zhao wins the world title and breaks into the top 16: "Somebody like Ali Carter at 16th place might obviously be a little aggrieved that he might be bumped out of some of these big events. You can see it from his point of view?"

Ferguson: "Absolutely I can. There's another player who has worked very hard, had a great career and been out then back in the top 16. It's amazing to think this scenario could happen. It does show how vibrant snooker is these days - the ability to go from zero to hero very quickly. We've created open tour qualifying worldwide."

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson spoke to BBC One earlier today, regarding Zhao Xintong's return to action earlier this season after serving a 20-month ban.

Zhao was one of 10 players from China sanctioned in 2023 following an investigation into match-fixing. He did not directly throw a match, but accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

"We are not a sport that has shied away from its problems," said Ferguson. "We said 'we've got a problem and we're going to clean it up' and we did.

"Zhao has served his time, he's back here, paid his fine, and he's also done the right thing. He was full of remorse from day one, he's made public apologies. He's followed a route of trying to work his way back into the sport.

"He's very dedicated, he's kept his head down and you can see the results. There's a man who has prepared to the finest standard, who has prepared his mind and he's prepared to face the public again.

"People will always refer to it but the fact is these problems exist in every single sport in the world and across society. What we can do is govern our sport properly in order to put those processes in place to try to stamp this kind of thing out completely.

"When people are caught up when they're young and perhaps get pulled into things they don't want to, there is a route back.

"He has done the right thing, is welcome back in this sport and will be a professional player again at the end of this season."

Image source, PA Media

Zhao Xintong began this season suspended from snooker after a match-fixing scandal but has been tipped by Ronnie O'Sullivan to be the sport's new "megastar" if he becomes the first Chinese player to win the World Championship.

The 28-year-old, who lives just a 10-minute walk from the Crucible venue in Sheffield, is one match away from joining Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy as the only qualifiers to land snooker's biggest prize since the tournament's 1977 move to South Yorkshire.

• Read more about Zhao's return to snooker and his run to the world final

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Given the way he absolutely dominated this afternoon, I can't imagine that Zhao Xintong thought he needed to spend too long on the practice table before tonight's session.

He arrived at the Crucible at about 18:20 BST and looked pretty relaxed.

He has not shown a single shred of nerves thus far, albeit he was not put under any real pressure at all by Mark Williams earlier.