Getting the Ball Rolling Trivia Quiz

Answer:

'The Crucible Curse' was in full effect yet again; the previous year, 2023 champion Luca Brecel had been knocked out in the first round by David Gilbert, and in 2025, it was Kyren Wilson's turn. Elsewhere, as well as Peifan, Wales' Daniel Wells and England's Zak Surety also made their Crucible debuts (and were knocked out by Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui respectively in the first round), while veterans Dominic Dale and Joe Perry retired from snooker after being knocked out by Wells and Yuan Sijun respectively in the third qualifying round. In the same round, Wales' Jackson Page made two maximum breaks while beating England's Allan Taylor 10-2.

The top sixteen seeds were, in descending order: Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump, John Higgins, Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, Luca Brecel, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, Shaun Murphy, and Jak Jones. Besides Robertson and Wilson, Jones, Selby, Hawkins and Anda also went out in the first round. Allen also achieved a maximum break, against Chris Wakelin in the second round, although Wakelin won the match 13-6. The main stage of the tournament featured 107 century breaks, 14 of which were made by Trump.

Veteran Mark Williams was the oldest World Snooker Championship finalist to date at the age of 50, the previous one being his fellow countryman Ray Reardon in the 1982 final at the age of 49. By contrast, 28-year-old Zhao was the youngest winner since Shaun Murphy in 2005. Although Zhao got off to a strong start, leading 17-8 by the third session, Williams reduced his lead to five frames after winning four frames in a row. Zhao's win was not without controversy, as he had entered as an amateur - the first winner to do so - and according to Ken Doherty, some players complained about Zhao's ranking and felt that his ranking points should be reset to zero.