Zhao has had a rollercoaster few years after he announced himself to the snooker world in 2021 by winning the UK Championship title, beating Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final in York.
But then Zhao was one of 10 Chinese players to be banned in a corruption scandal.
Zhao did not directly throw a match but was initially suspended for two and a half years, reduced to one year and eight months after his early admissions and guilty plea. He accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.
He made his return to top-level snooker at the UK Championship last year and then produced a sensational nine-match run from the first qualifying round of the World Championship to the Crucible final before making history as the first ever Chinese world champion.
After his win over Long, Zhao spoke of how his life had changed since then.
“I’m trying to learn and now being world champion is very different, you need to do more things,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure and that’s a big problem for me so I’m learning how to enjoy the table and when I win any match I’m just very happy.
“This is my first time to be famous and I’m very busy, I don’t have time to practise but now I’m trying to get the balance and trying to get better. I’m not sure this is all real!”
Zhao is hoping to having another extended run at York Barbican, a venue that will always be close to his heart.
He added: “I have good memories here as it was my first championship – Barbican is my lucky place so I enjoyed that today. Now I’ve just started, I’ve not finished, so I can get better in the future in every area.
“It is a big difference now when I go back to China, everybody knows about me and when I was at the airport everyone takes pictures. I’m definitely more nervous [when playing] and I’m starting to learn how to play under big pressure.”
