Ken Doherty wound up with a risky joke during the BBC's coverage of the final on Monday. With putting distance between himself and , Parrott was asked to draw on his own experience of seeing a huge match slip away, having lost 18-3 to in the 1989 final at the Crucible.

Williams was in danger of trudging down the same path, albeit with a less one-sided scoreline, as he found himself down 14-7 by the mid-session interval on Monday afternoon. The Welsh Potting Machine produced a number of costly mistakes which Zhao capitalised on to extend his lead and quicken his march towards the title.

When asked how a snooker star can control the feeling of a match beginning to spiral out of control, Parrott said: "Well, I couldn't do it. I was absolutely done at 12-3 against Steve. Absolutely done, nothing left, punctured tyre."

At that point, Doherty interjected: "You were lucky to get three [frames]!" There was a tap on Parrott's arm from the Irishman as he assured him he was only joking, before he and lead presenter Hazel Irvine cracked up into nervous laughter.

"I tell you what, you're not joking by the way," Parrott continued. "I was lucky to get three. No matter how you feel, your arm's not feeling your own, your brain's not thinking clearly."

Doherty added: "You get deflated. It's pride in performance as well, and Mark looks a bit deflated. You need something to inspire you and get going because he hasn't played anywhere near the standard he played against Judd Trump [in the semi-finals] or John Higgins [in the quarter-finals]."

Many thought Zhao would crumble under the weight of expectations in the World Snooker Championship final. The 28-year-old had never made that far at the Crucible, and he was bidding to become the first Asian world champion in snooker history.

But he seemed to take each session and each opponent in his stride, including his own idol, Ronnie O'Sullivan, in the semi-finals.

Watching on for the , commentator Dennis Taylor said: "I thought the pressure of everyone following him and watching him in China would have taken its toll but it hasn't, he's coped so well with it. This is an unbelievable player you're watching, with sheer natural ability."