Zhang comfortably beat Craig Steadman 10–4 in his first match of World Championship qualifying, scoring his first century of the season in the penultimate frame. He then beat veteran John Parrott 10–6 in the next round. He made a second century, a 113, as he won the last five frames to progress. In the penultimate qualifying round, he beat Andrew Higginson 10–8 in a topsy turvy match. Zhang led 7–3 scoring a 114 in the process before Higginson went ahead 8–7. Zhang took the last three to go through to the final qualifying round. Ricky Walden, provisionally in the top 16 before the tournament, was Zhang's last obstacle to overcome. The first 16 frames were shared before a 134 break in frame 17 and a 103 break in frame 18 for Zhang resulted in a 10–8 victory. This meant that he would be only the fourth Chinese player to play at The Crucible and the lowest ranked player (number 71) to qualify for tournament. He is also one of only a few players to make it to The Crucible in their debut season. This result denied Walden a top 16 place for the following season. Zhang was drawn against seven-time World Snooker champion Stephen Hendry in the first round of the event. Zhang was 0–4 down in the match but rallied to trail only 4–5 after the first session. Hendry increased his lead to 7–5 before Zhang won four frames in a row to be on the cusp of a famous win. He wasted a chance to take the match in the next frame and went on to lose 9–10. Zhang ended the season ranked world number 71.