Williams will become the oldest player to contest the final at the Crucible after overcoming Judd Trump 17-14 at the tender age of 50. Zhao impressively dispatched Ronnie O’Sullivan at the last-four stage, comfortably beating the seven-time champion 17-7 with a session to spare.

Zhao Xintong has dominated Mark Williams in the opening session of the world snooker championship final by running up a 7-1 lead in his bid to become the first Chinese winner of the sport’s biggest prize.