Zhao’s first-round display was one of the most impressive of any player during the tournament so far.
The 28-year-old led 7-2 overnight and, after Jones took the first two frames of the morning, Zhao won the next three with breaks of 70, 55 and 87 to defeat the 16th seed from Wales.
Zhao is competing as an amateur in his first World Championship appearance since 2022, having completed a 20-month suspension earlier this season.
The former UK Championship winner was one of 10 players banned in 2023 following an investigation into match-fixing. He did not directly throw a match, but accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches, and betting on matches himself.
Zhao has earned a place back among the professional ranks next season courtesy of his performances on the Q Tour and is considered one of the contenders to win in Sheffield, with Jones and former world champion Neil Robertson among those expecting him to make a deep run.
“I’m so happy he said that and I will try my best,” said Zhao when told of Robertson’s comments.
On being one of 10 Chinese players in the main draw at the Crucible, he added: “It’s very helpful for Chinese snooker and we as players are very happy about that.
“Hopefully in the future, we will have a Chinese world champion here and we are trying to do that.”
Jones, 31, said: “Zhao looked really sharp, the qualifiers have done him good, and I’ve had two best-of-sevens in the past 10 weeks or so.
“I kind of felt that out there, I didn’t feel sharp at all. He put me under a lot of pressure, his scoring and long-potting was good and I think he’ll be hard to stop.”
