News about Zhao Xintong

After being found guilty of serial match-fixing, DAVID COVERDALE: Liang Wenbo and Li Hang have been barred from playing for life. In the biggest corruption case to have ever impacted the game, eight other Chinese players have also been sentenced to lengthy suspensions. Yan Bingtao, the 2021 Masters champion, and 2021 UK Championship champion Zhao Xintong, who will not play until September 2024, are among the names banned.

On Monday, the biggest match-fixing hearing in snooker history begins with ten Chinese players facing a variety of allegations that could result in long-term bans for all of the players involved. Former UK Championship champion Zhao Xintong, Masters winner Yan Bingtao, and former UK Championship finalist Liang Wenbo are among the ten players who are all currently suspended. Lu Ning, Li Hang, Chen Zifan, Chang Bingyu, Zhao Jiankang, and Bai Langning are among the other seven figures.

Cliff Thorburn, a Snooker legend, admits he may have been lost to baseball. The three-time Masters champion, who is celebrating his 75th birthday today, is over from Canada at Alexandra Palace. Thorburn, who has only recently resigned, remarked on his nickname, the Grinder, for his tenacity and pedestrian pace of play at the table.

They are playing in the Palace this week, but snooker is in the gutter. The Masters is supposed to be a showcase of the sport's best. Nonetheless, it is still the very worst of the tournament to have emerged at the start of the prestigious tournament. The Masters is one of snooker's Triple Crown tournaments alongside the World Championship and the UK Championship, with only the best 16 players selected. However, two members of this select group are also out of Alexandra Palace this year after being embroiled in the biggest match-fixing fiasco ever rocket the game. By their absence, Zhao Xintong, the world No.9 and 2021 British Championship champion, and Yan Bingtao, the world no.16 and 2021 Masters champion, are the players conspicuous. They are just two of ten Chinese stars banned from the World Snooker Tour as part of the ongoing probe into 'allegations of manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes,' which could result in lengthy bans for players.

The match-fixing controversy that has rocked snooker is believed to have involved gangs, with leading players yelling their younger cousins into cheating. According to a person close to the situation, one alleged plot involved one or two experienced Chinese players coercing younger compatriots to fix elements of games for profit. According to reports, a second scheme would result in more conventional fixings ordered by criminals. Both scenarios are thought to rely on financial markets for the exploitation of betting markets. Zhao Xintong (pictured) is one of those banned from entering the world number nine, as well as the others.