The Chinese superstar is the latest in a long line of first time champions to fall short at the Crucible

Defending champion Zhao Xintong is the latest big name star to be eliminated from the Snooker World Championship as the long-running Crucible Curse continues to haunt the competition’s first-time winners.

Xintong, who was the bookmakers favourite, before the first break on Saturday, April 18, became the first Asian in history to reign supreme at the Theatre of Dreams last year and in the run-up to the tournament had shown many signs that he could do something similar this time after winning The Players Championship and Tour Championship earlier in the year.

Zhao Xintong’s title defence is over | Local Library

placeholder image — Zhao Xintong’s title defence is over | Local Library

The highly-rated Chinese star overcame Liam Highfield in the first round and was also triumphant over fellow countrymen Ding Junhui in a thrilling second round clash.

However, he simply had no answer to Shaun Murphy, who produced a masterful display in the quarter-final to move into the last four and set up a mega showdown with four-time champion John Higgins in the semi-final.

The winner of that particular clash is scheduled to meet the victor of either Mark Allen or Wu Yize, who are flying the flag for Northern Ireland and China respectively.

Shaun Murphy secured his place in the semi-final with an excellent display against the defending champion. | Getty Images

Xintong’s loss means he’s now the 21st champion to fall victim to the Crucible Curse - a strange phenomenon which shows that no first-time winner has ever been able to defend their title immediately after triumphing for the first time.

Here’s a list of all the first-time winners since the World Championship moved to the Steel City and how they fared the year after becoming champion.