China has become a global leader in snooker in the last decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has worked to promote snooker in China. China is the largest country that plays snooker and has over 50 million players. However, the Chinese have not yet had a world championship winner. As the sport becomes more popular, it is anticipated that the number Chinese snooker player will rise rapidly.
Chinese snooker stars are revered as icons in China. Tournaments are watched by thousands of people. They are treated as A-list celebrities, enjoy red carpet entries and receive champagne receptions. The sport is becoming more popular and more players are coming up. Tian Pengfei is among the youngest players. Zhang Jiankang is also among them.
The sport was once again under fire despite China becoming the most dominant player in snooker over the past decade. Yu Delu, an ex-professional player, was suspended for match-fixing. Yu is currently serving a 10-year ban. WPBSA also investigates match-fixing allegations in betting.
Although there have not been any bans on specific players, they cast a shadow over this sport. Only 12 Chinese players are among the top 64 in the world. The suspension list added Zhao Xintong to the list and Li Hang to it has reduced that number to 11. Additionally, the CBSA is currently investigating allegations that Liang Wenbo and Lu Ning were involved with match-fixing.
Yan Bingtao is the 2021 Masters champion, and is the most prominent name in the investigation. He was supposed to play in the World Snooker Tour's next month event. After being drawn against Mark Williams, he was disqualified. While he was considered to be the first Chinese player at a world championship, he has not commented on the ongoing investigation.
Zhao Xintong is another Chinese player who has been suspended from the World Snooker Tour. He was ranked the no.1 player in the world earlier this season. He is the world's number one player and is highly regarded in the sport. Now, he's being investigated in a global probe of match-fixing.
The investigation also included former world no. Liang Wenbo, who had been suspended in October, was also under investigation. Many other Chinese players have been disciplined for alleged abuse or cheating. These are a small number compared to the hundreds of millions of fans who have followed the sport in China.
However, the World Tour has a lot of Chinese players which shows the popularity of the game in China. Indeed, more tournaments are being held in the country.
However, the country still has a long road ahead of it to be as successful in snooker as the UK. Younger Chinese players are making their mark on the professional snooker circuit by participating in more tournaments.
Zhao Xintong (currently) and Ding Junhui (currently), are the top-ranking Chinese players worldwide. Ding has won numerous ranking titles, and he has an enormous following in China. Ding said that he wants to win the World Championship even though he had not won one.