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.

Zhao Xintong went 3-0 in front and then won all four frames after the mid-session interval to take full control of this final.

There are nine more frames to be played this evening.

Zhao Xintong dominated the opening session of the 2025 World Snooker Championship final and the 28-year-old qualifier from China takes a six-frame lead into the second session of four.

Will Mark Williams be able to find a way back?

We're going to pause this live text commentary for a couple of hours and we will be back at about 18:45 BST for the second session of the 2025 final.

Another nine frames will be played this evening, with the action scheduled to start at 19:00 BST.

What does Mark Williams have left?

He was outstanding in seeing off world number one Judd Trump in his semi-final - can the 50-year-old find one last effort to fight his way back into this contest?

Image source, PA Media

The points score in that first session was 678-258 in favour of Zhao Xintong.

Zhao knocked in two century breaks and four more of 50 and above, while Williams only passed 50 in a break once - and that effort of 61 didn't even win him that frame.

These are the most recent Crucible champions - is Zhao Xintong about to add his name to this list?

Zhao Xintong is playing as an amateur at this World Championship and needed to come through four rounds of qualifying because of the impact of his 20-month suspension.

But we really should not be surprised at the quality of his play during this tournament - he is a former UK Championship winner and was well inside the top 10 in the world rankings before his ban.

Ronnie O'Sullivan said Zhao could be snooker's new "megastar" if he becomes the first world champion from China - and he's getting closer.

Ken Doherty
1997 world champion on BBC One

It's incredible. Zhao is almost born to play here, he plays so beautifully and hits the ball so well.

He's destroying one of the icons of the game at the moment. He looks very relaxed. Mark has had his chances and hasn't taken them.

If Mark does start a little comeback, it can have an effect on his opponent.

A stunning scoreline at the end of the first session.

Image source, PA Media

That fantastic plant sets Zhao Xintong away on what will be a frame-winning contribution.

A 7-1 lead puts the 28-year-old in a sensational position as he bids to become China's first world snooker champion.

When you have the luxury of a 6-1 lead, you can afford to take a few risks. Zhao Xintong pots a plant to the corner that he had no right to get, and I'm sure he wouldn't have attempted if the scoreline was more even.

"All out attack - I love it," says Stephen Hendry.

Great chance.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC One

If you have got any signs of fatigue, playing badly just exaggerates it.

At the break between frames, Steve Davis says he thinks Mark Williams may be in a similar position to him when he reached the 2005 UK Championship final as a 48-year-old.

"It was a leap too far for me," says Davis, who lost on that occasion to a teenage Ding Junhui.

Back on the table, Zhao Xintong flukes the opening red of frame eight and a safety battle follows.

Worrying times for Mark Williams and his supporters as Zhao Xintong knocks in a 104 break.

Stephen Hendry says it's probably the worst he's seen Zhao play in this tournament and he's 6-1 ahead in a race to 18.

Mark Williams fought back from 7-3 down to beat Judd Trump in his semi-final and he's going to need to do something similar if he's going to win the final.

Zhao Xintong compiles another half-century and is about to go 6-1 in front.

These two players have guaranteed themselves a minimum £200,000 for reaching the final, with £500,000 on offer to the winner.