Zhao Xintong vs Ding Junhui Betting Preview | World Championship | 24 April 2026

Both players arrive at the Crucible having won their opening matches, setting up what promises to be a genuinely compelling all-Chinese contest. Zhao Xintong defends the world title he claimed last year, and the pressure of doing so against a compatriot who has been navigating this stage for two decades makes this a fascinating match-up on paper.

## Zhao Xintong

Ranked 13th in the world, Zhao showed enough in edging past Liam Highfield to suggest his game is in decent order. He holds five ranking titles, including the UK Championship in 2021, and has 185 career centuries to his name alongside a 147 maximum. What makes him dangerous here is temperament. Defending champions carry a target, but Zhao has shown he possesses the mental steel to perform at the Crucible when it matters most. The market has made him a very short favourite at 1.2, which tells you exactly where public confidence sits.

## Ding Junhui

Ding is ranked 12th and brings a career that dwarfs almost anyone still active on tour. Fourteen ranking titles, a Masters crown in 2011, the UK Championship in 2005 when he became the youngest ever winner of that event, and 636 career centuries that underline his extraordinary consistency over the years. He too won his opening match here, arriving with momentum. Ding at his best is a potter of real class and his scoring ability gives him every chance against any opponent at the Crucible. The question with Ding has always been whether the big occasion brings out his best or exposes a familiar vulnerability. His record at the Worlds has been one of sustained near-misses rather than dominance, and that matters when you weigh up the 4.5 on offer.

## Betting Verdict

Zhao Xintong is the right call here. The defending champion has already demonstrated that he can handle the unique pressure of the Crucible — he won the title last year and that experience is not nothing in a best-of-25 format where nerve and sustained concentration matter as much as potting ability.

Ding's career record is extraordinary. Fourteen ranking titles and 636 centuries place him among the greatest players the sport has produced. But a world title has eluded him across two decades at the top, and his Crucible record is one of near-misses rather than sustained dominance. The biggest stages have not always brought out his best when it counts most.

Zhao at 1.2 is a compressed price and the stake needs to be calibrated accordingly — this is a confident lean rather than a value play. But the defending champion, in form, facing an opponent with a complicated relationship with the Crucible's biggest moments, is the correct selection.