On May 8, the World Snooker Tour (WST) announced the year-end awards for the 2025/26 season:
– **WST Player of the Year**: Zhao Xintong
– **Fan Vote Player of the Year**: Wu Yize
– **Media Player of the Year**: Zhao Xintong
– **Best Performance of the Year**: Ronnie O’Sullivan
– **Rookie of the Year**: Mihai Subarich
– **Magical Moment of the Year**: Jack Lisowski’s 9-8 final-deciding victory over Judd Trump at the Northern Ireland Open
– **Breakthrough Player of the Year**: Chang Bingyu
– **Hall of Fame Inductees**: Zhao Xintong and Mark Allen
Zhao Xintong, born in 1997 in Shenzhen, Guangdong, started playing snooker at age eight. He turned professional in 2016, won the UK Championship in 2021 (becoming the first post-1990s player to win a Triple Crown event), and claimed the World Championship in 2025 (the first Asian world champion). In April 2026, he won the Tour Championship, becoming the first player in history to capture all three ranking titles in a single season.
Wu Yize, born in 2003 in Lanzhou, Gansu, began playing billiards at age seven. He won the IBSF World Under-21 Championship in 2018 and became a professional in 2021. After winning the International Championship in 2025, he recently triumphed at the 2026 World Championship, defeating Shane Murphy in the final to become the first “post-2000s” world champion, rising to world No. 4 and becoming the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong.
Additionally, the Breakthrough Player of the Year award went to Chinese player Chang Bingyu, born in 2002 in Golmud, Qinghai, and raised in Xinjiang. 
