Covid-19 strikes Hong Kong Masters snooker event on day 1 as China’s Zhao Xintong tests positive, pulls out
- He is withdrawn, with Mark Williams called in as last-minute replacement and Judd Trump’s match against John Higgins moving forward to Thursday
- Zhao’s test result is an ill-timed blow just hours before play gets under way at Hong Kong Coliseum in high-profile event for the city

Zhao was withdrawn from the tournament when he received his test result late on Wednesday, and will be replaced by Mark Williams.
He had been scheduled to face Neil Robertson on Thursday evening, but the following afternoon’s match between John Higgins and Judd Trump has been brought forward to fill their slot.
Robertson will now play against Williams – who was next in line to be invited from the world ranking list – on Friday once the Welshman has flown in.

The addition of three-time world champion Williams ensures that the event will lose little in terms of quality or box-office appeal – albeit that Zhao, tipped by some to be his country’s first world champion one day, was the best bet for a Chinese winner of this week’s prize.
However, it will be a matter of disappointment for snooker officials that an event facilitated by loosened Covid-19 regulations will begin partially in the pandemic’s shadow as Hongkongers wake to news of a withdrawal on day one of the action.