Snooker’s umbrella organization World Snooker announced on Tuesday about the massive competition bans for Chinese players.
Liang Wenbo and Li Hanglifetime bans.
Lu Ningfive years and four months to put.
Yan Bingtao and Chen Zifanfive years.
Zhang Jiankangtwo years and 11 months.
Bai Langningtwo years and eight months.
Zhao Jianbotwo years and four months.
Chang Bingyutwo years.
Zhao Xintongone and a half years.
The independent disciplinary body of snooker’s umbrella organization, World Snooker, has finished dealing with Chinese players his match-fixing investigation.
Apart from the lifetime bans, the above-mentioned bans were initially higher, but the umbrella organization reduced the sentences after the Chinese players admitted their guilt.
In addition, Liang and Li, who received lifetime bans, have to pay fines of 50,000 euros. Almost 9,000 euros accrued to be paid to other players.
5 years for the first promise
In the judgments, the most attention is focused on Yan Bingtao, who was among the top 16 in the world rankings. Only 23-year-old Yan received a sentence of seven years and six months, which was however reduced to five years.
Yan admitted match manipulation in four matches, three of which took place in 2022. The previous year, Yan had broken into snooker’s elite by winning the Masters invitational tournament, which is part of the major tournaments.
According to the verdict, Yan’s first match on the professional tour took place already in 2016. At that time, Yan was only 16 years old.
Along with him, Zhao Xintong, one of the brightest Chinese players of recent years, received a match-fixing sentence of two years and six months. With the recognition, it was shortened by ten months.
The 26-year-old Zhao won the UK Championship in 2021, which is part of the major competitions, and the German Masters, which is part of the biggest ranking tournaments, the following year.
Zhao admitted that he was involved in fixing the results of two matches in March 2022.
Zhao and Yan also admitted to betting on matches on the professional snooker tour, which is prohibited by the umbrella organization’s rules.
All the players who received a verdict have been banned from competition since the beginning of the investigation. Yan is eligible to return to professional competition on December 11, 2027 at the earliest, while Zhao on September 1, 2024.
The disciplinary body handed down lifetime bans to 36-year-old Liang Wenbo and 32-year-old Li Hang after finding evidence that experienced players had pressured and threatened their juniors. The actions of Liang and Li were also considered to have hampered the investigation.
The match-fixing scandal is very large in scale, as there are only 128 players who have the right to play on the professional tour. Ten Chinese players therefore make up 7.8 percent of the entire tour.