Zhao, who battled through four qualifying matches and then five more matches at the Crucible to become the first Asian player to win a world title in May, became the third Chinese player to make the quarter-finals of this year’s Masters.
A break of 76 gave Wilson the opening frame as the Englishman looked to win a Masters match for the first time after losing to Kieran Wilson and Shaun Murphy in the opening rounds in 2021 and 2024 respectively.
But Zhao ruthlessly punished Wilson’s loose safety shots to win four consecutive frames thanks to breaks of 50, 51, 54 and 72, while Wilson collected only 10 points in that time.
However, Wilson fought back to win the sixth frame and reduce the deficit to 2–4, but then slipped to a 51–0 lead in frame seven.
Zhao scored her fifth half-century of the match, scoring 67 in frame eight to seal a 6–2 win – bizarrely the same score that has now been seen in all four completed matches.
Zhao, who lost to John Higgins in the first round in his only other Masters appearance in 2022, said: “I enjoyed the night. It’s my second time at Alexandra Palace so I really enjoyed it.
“I know he (Wilson) is a very good player so I just wanted to take big breaks and not have to come back so I just try to get better.
“Hopefully we will have two Chinese players in the final. Tonight I saw a lot of fans supporting me so I felt very confident and I didn’t want to lose. This is my first win at Alexandra Palace.”
Zhao will now play either four-time world champion Higgins or two-time world runner-up Barry Hawkins in the next round.
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