China has become a global leader in snooker in the last decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has been trying to help the sport in China. China is home of more than 50,000,000 snooker players, making it the biggest snooker-playing country in the globe. However, the Chinese have not yet had a world championship winner. It is expected that the number of Chinese snooker players will increase rapidly as the sport becomes more popular.
Chinese snooker players have been hailed as icons of their country. There are thousands of people who gather to watch the tournaments. They are treated like celebrities and get champagne receptions. More and more young athletes are joining the sport as it grows in popularity. Among the younger players are Tian Pengfei and Zhang Jiankang.
Despite China being the world's largest snooker player in the last decade, another scandal has rocked the sport. Yu Delu (former professional player) was expelled on 1 December after being charged with match-fixing. Yu is currently serving a 10-year ban. WPBSA is also investigating allegations of match-fixing for betting purposes.
While there are no bans for specific players, these suspensions cast a shadow upon the sport. There are 12 Chinese players among the 64 top-ranked athletes in the world. After Zhao Xintong, Li Hang and Li Hang were added on to the suspension list, that number has been reduced by 11. Further, the CBSA is investigating whether Chang Bingyu and Lu Ning were involved match-fixing.
Yan Bingtao (2021 Masters) is the biggest name in this investigation. He was supposed to play in the World Snooker Tour's next month event. After drawing against Mark Williams in round one, he was disqualified. Although he was tipped to be the first Chinese player to win a world championship, his comment on the ongoing investigation has been limited.
Zhao Xintong of China is also suspended from this year's World Snooker Tour. He was the world's number one player earlier this season. He is widely regarded as one the most talented players in the sport. Now, he's being investigated in a global probe of match-fixing.
Former world number one Chinese player has been under investigation. Liang Wenbo was suspended in October. Numerous other Chinese athletes were also punished for alleged cheating. This is a relatively small number when compared to the many millions of people who have followed the sport across China.
However, the World Tour has a lot of Chinese players which shows the popularity of the game in China. There are even more tournaments in China.
But, China still has a long way to travel before they can match the success of the UK. More tournaments are being held, which means that more young Chinese players are finding their way into the professional snooker scene.
Zhao Xintong & Ding Junhui are currently the top-ranked Chinese players in the entire world. Ding has won many ranking titles and is a popular player in China. Despite not having won a world championship, Ding has stated that he would like to win the World Championship.