Kyren Wilson ended Zhao Xintong's remarkable 26-match winning run with a 10-5 victory in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals. The Chinese world champion had not lost since November, when Shaun Murphy defeated him at the UK Championship. Zhao subsequently won a string of amateur events before claiming the World Championship at the Crucible.
The Shanghai Masters marked Zhao's first tournament since his Crucible triumph, and he impressed in earlier rounds against Chris Wakelin and Ding Junhui. In the first session of the semi-final, he led 5-4 with breaks of 121, 113 and 95. However, his form collapsed in the evening session as Wilson won six consecutive frames to reach the final. Zhao missed several easy balls, often after potting trickier ones to get in.
Wilson, who had earlier beaten Si Jiahui and Ronnie O'Sullivan, will face Ali Carter in the final. Carter has had a remarkable tournament as a late replacement for Mark Allen, who withdrew due to personal reasons. He came from 5-2 down to beat Mark Williams, repeated the feat against Xiao Guodong, and then recovered from 8-6 behind to defeat Mark Selby 10-6 in the semi-finals.
'I was just out there competing,' said Carter. 'At 8-6 down he missed a blue and it gave me a glimmer of hope. It was very pleasing to get over the line with a one visit.' He added: 'I love Shanghai, I love the city and I love the tournament. I won it back in 2010 and it would be great to try and win it on Sunday.'
Both Wilson and Carter have won the Shanghai Masters before in its previous incarnation as a ranking event. Wilson beat Judd Trump in the 2015 final, while Carter defeated Jamie Burnett in 2010. Zhao's defeat continues a curious trend: every player to beat Ding Junhui in a World Snooker Tour event has lost their next match since the 2024 Welsh Open.
