2012–2016: Amateur career In June 2012, Zhao defeated
Xiao Guodong, Kevin McMahon, and
Yu Delu to reach the last 16 of the
Zhangjiagang Open, where he lost 34 to
Stephen Lee. He built on this success by reaching the second round of two
Asian Tour Events: the
Yixing Open and the
Zhengzhou Open. As a wildcard entrant, he defeated former world champion
Ken Doherty at the professional ranking tournament, the
2012 International Championship. Having also earned his way to the last 32 of two other events, Zhao began to gain a reputation as a "Wildcard Menace". He beat six-time world champion
Steve Davis 61 at the
2013 International Championship. the following year, he defeated Fu in the first round of the
2014 Shanghai Masters. In late 2013, he entered the
World Amateur Championship and reached the final, where he lost 48 to his fellow countryman
Zhou Yuelong, missing the chance to join the
main professional snooker tour for the
201415 season. Zhao was narrowly defeated in the first round of the
ACBS Asian Snooker Championship in April 2015. He won three matches in the first event of the
2015 Q School before losing 34 to
Alexander Ursenbacher in the penultimate round. He reached the final round of the second Q School event but lost 34 to
Duane Jones in a finish in the deciding frame. He completed a 60 of
Stuart Carrington to qualify for the
2015 International Championship, where he lost 26 to
John Higgins in the first round. Zhao made his first appearance in a
Triple Crown event at the
2015 UK Championship but lost 26 to
Mark Allen in the first round. He qualified for the
German Masters and the
Welsh Open in 2016 but was knocked out in the opening round of both events. As runner-up, Zhao received a two-year tour card for the main professional tour when Advani declined the invitation.
2016–2022: Early professional years, 2021 UK Champion Zhao met
Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the
2016 English Open. Breaks of 130, 107 and 80 gave him a 32 lead, but he missed chances to take the win and was defeated 34. O'Sullivan said afterwards that Zhao's attacking style of play had reminded him of seven-time World Champion
Stephen Hendry at a similar age. Zhao qualified for the
2017 German Masters by beating
Li Hang 53 and
John Higgins 51, and a 50 whitewash of
Sunny Akani saw Zhao reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. He held a narrow 43 advantage over
Ali Carter but lost the last two frames. He also reached the third round of the
Gibraltar Open before losing 34 to
Mark Williams. He defeated
Dechawat Poomjaeng in the second event final of Q School to regain his professional status. He reached his first professional ranking semi-finals at the
2018 China Championship, where he lost 46 to
Mark Selby. He progressed to the quarter-finals of the
Welsh Open, losing 25 to eventual finalist
Stuart Bingham. Zhao qualified for the
World Snooker Championship for the first time in 2019 but lost 710 to Selby in the first round. In the
201920 season, Zhao reached the last 16 stage of four ranking events and the quarter-finals of the
2020 German Masters, elevating his world ranking to 29th by the end of the season. Snooker professionals Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and
Alan McManus all suggested at the time that Zhao could potentially become a leading player in world snooker due to his enormous potential. In December 2020, Zhao reached the quarter-finals of the
World Grand Prix; after beating
Jamie Jones 42 in the first round and
John Higgins 43 in the second, he was defeated 35 by
Jack Lisowski. Zhao claimed his first ranking title at the
2021 UK Championship, defeating
Luca Brecel 105 in the final; the win elevated Zhao to ninth in the
snooker world rankings. By entering the elite "top 16", he qualified for the invitational
2022 Masters for the first time, where he played
John Higgins in the first round but lost the match 26. He defeated
Yan Bingtao 9–0 in the final of the
2022 German Masters to claim his second ranking title. Zhao became only the third player, after
Steve Davis and
Neil Robertson, to win a two-session ranking final by a whitewash. At the
2022 World Snooker Championship, he defeated
Jamie Clarke in the first round but lost in the second round to
Stephen Maguire.
2023–2024: Professional suspension and ban In January 2023, the sport's governing body, the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), suspended Zhao as part of a
match-fixing investigation involving ten Chinese players. On 6 June 2023, an independent disciplinary commission ruled that Zhao had not himself fixed any matches, and his involvement was limited to placing bets on behalf of another player (
Yan Bingtao) on two of Yan's matches. Zhao was ruled "liable as a party to" the two match fixes in question, which both took place in March 2022: Yan vs
Ricky Walden at the
2022 Welsh Open and Yan vs
Oliver Lines at the
2022 Turkish Masters. The ruling stated that Zhao had "shown genuine remorse for his actions." The commission noted the circumstances contributing to Zhao's actions, pointing out that the Chinese players involved in the case lived in close proximity to one another, were "heavily reliant on each other socially and financially", and unable to return to their native China during the
COVID-19 pandemic. The situation they found themselves in may have led to loneliness, boredom and isolation, as well as facing the pressure of financial difficulties leading to the onset of "ill-judged gambling and betting habits". It was also noted that the young Chinese players were "particularly susceptible to influence and manipulation from the older Chinese snooker players, who took them under their wing." The Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) upheld the original ban. WPBSA regulations state that players need to be in "good standing" with their national federation to compete on the World Snooker Tour. The chair of the WPBSA,
Jason Ferguson, then confirmed that Zhao's ban would apply only to events sanctioned and governed by the CBSA. He was therefore eligible to enter the
202425 Q Tour after 1 September 2024 (the date on which the WPBSA ban expired), as well as any other amateur competition not sanctioned by the CBSA.
2024–25 season: World Championship winner After his competitive ban had expired, Zhao joined the amateur
Q Tour in the hope of regaining professional status; his first post-ban match was in September 2024 at
Q Tour Event 2 in
Sofia. In October, he won
Q Tour Event 3 in
Stockholm; He won
Q Tour Event 4 in
Manchester in November, defeating Ryan Davies 42 in the final. On his run to the trophy, he made another maximum break in his 41 quarter-final win over Oliver Sykes, as well as three
centuries in defeating
Craig Steadman 41 in the semi-finals. On 5 November 2024, the WPBSA and WST announced that Zhao would be invited to play in the
UK Championship (an event he had won in
2021) as a WPBSA qualifier, on account of his winning Q Tour Event 3. He won four qualifying matches to progress to the main stage of the UK Championship but was then eliminated 56 by
Shaun Murphy in the first round. Zhao won
Q Tour Event 5 in
Vienna in December 2024 and
Q Tour Event 6 in
Mons, Belgium, in January 2025, defeating Australian
Ryan Thomerson 42 and Iran's Ehsan Heydari Nezhad 41 in the finals, respectively; at this stage, he had won four straight events and 32 consecutive matches on the Q Tour. He defeated
Jak Jones 104,
Lei Peifan 1310 and
Chris Wakelin 135 to reach the semi-finals, where he beat seven-time world champion
Ronnie O'Sullivan 177 with a . He then defeated
Mark Williams 1812 in the final to win his first world title. Zhao became the first Chinese player, the first
Asian player, and the first amateur to win the World Snooker Championship. He was the fourth player to have won the title after appearing in the qualification event; the other three qualifiers who went on to lift the world trophy were
Alex Higgins in
1972,
Terry Griffiths in
1979, and Murphy in
2005. As a result of winning the title, Zhao attained professional status based on ranking points attained during the season, and he entered the world snooker rankings at number 11. The tour card that Zhao had previously attained by topping the Q Tour Europe rankings was awarded to
Dylan Emery, who had finished in second place. Zhao finished the
202425 season having played 49 matches since his return to competition and winning 47 of them.
2025–26 season Zhao's first tournament of the new season after winning the World Championship was the
2025 Shanghai Masters. He reached the semi-finals where he was defeated 5–10 by
Kyren Wilson. This was the end of a winning streak for Zhao, following his first-round loss to Murphy at the UK Championship the previous year. After a run of poor form due to illness, Zhao reached his first ranking semi-final of the season at the
International Championship in November 2025. He lost 6–9 to compatriot
Wu Yize. At the
Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, Zhao won his first title as World Champion, defeating
Neil Robertson 5–2 in the final. At the
2026 Masters, Zhao lost 5–6 in the quarter-finals to
John Higgins. After making his first maximum break in professional competition during the
2026 Championship League, he won back-to-back ranking titles at the
World Grand Prix, beating
Zhang Anda 10–6 in the final, and the
2026 Players Championship, defeating Higgins 10–7 in the final. He became the fourth player in professional snooker history to win his first five ranking finals, following
Steve Davis,
Mark Williams, and
Neil Robertson. Following the 2026 Players Championship, he advanced to a career high of fifth in the world rankings. Zhao reached the quarter-finals of the
2026 World Championship, but his attempts to become the first player to overcome the
Crucible curse ended when he was defeated 10–13 by Murphy. ==Performance and rankings timeline==