Zhao Xintong is just one frame away from making history as the first player from China to win the World Snooker Championship. The 28-year-old extended his lead to 17-8 over Mark Williams in the final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Zhao, who won the UK Championship in 2021, is aiming to become the first amateur to triumph at the Crucible. He led 11-6 overnight and took three of the first four frames on Monday to go 14-7 ahead at the mid-session interval. A break of 52 in the next frame put him on course for a historic victory.

Three-time champion Williams briefly rallied with a break of 66 to bring the score to 15-8, but the 50-year-old Welshman, the oldest finalist in Sheffield, couldn't make further inroads. Zhao capitalized on Williams' mistakes, including a missed red to the left middle, with a 66 break to move closer to victory.

Zhao, who served a 20-month ban for match-fixing, is hoping to join Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy as the only qualifiers to win the World Championship since 1977. A victory would also earn him the £500,000 top prize and move him to 11th in the world rankings.

The best-of-35 final continues on Monday at 19:00 BST, live on BBC Two.