Yan Bingtao
Cover news reporter Chen Yuxiao
After being banned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for allegedly manipulating the game, Yan Bingtao was punished by the China Billiards Association on the 13th for suspending the qualification for domestic billiards competitions, and he is also the seventh Chinese player to be suspended from the tournament recently. This can be said to be the most humiliating moment for Chinese snooker, and this large-scale match-fixing incident has shaken the snooker community and caused great damage to China's image of snooker. According to industry insiders, in response to the gambling match-fixing incident involving Chinese players, the State General Administration of Sports has set up a special team and will conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association said on December 12 local time that the association's president Ferguson has decided to ban Yan Bingtao from attending or participating in World Snooker Tour tournaments, effective immediately. "This decision was made because some players were suspected of manipulating the results of the game for the purpose of gambling, in violation of association rules," the statement said. The ban will remain in place until the end of the investigation or until the decision not to bring charges is subsequently made, and Yan Bingtao has the right to appeal this decision." Previously, the World Taiwan Association issued a statement on December 9, deciding to ban Lu Ning, Li Xing, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning, and Chang Bingyu from attending or participating in the World Snooker Tour, while Liang Wenbo had been banned as early as October 27. At present, the China Taiwan Association Association has also suspended the qualification of the above seven people for domestic billiards competitions, including snooker, Chinese billiards, and American nine-ball.
Liang Wenbo
This is not the first time a Chinese player has been banned. As early as December 2018, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association investigated the match-fixing incident of Chinese players Yu Delu and Cao Yupeng, and sentenced them to 10 years, 9 months and 6 years respectively. Since then, Chinese golfers have also been punished for other incidents, such as Liang Wenbo beating a woman on the street, being fined and community labor. In October this year, Liang Wenbo, who had already made a comeback, was suddenly punished by the World Federation of Taiwan Affairs again with an indefinite ban, and the investigation on him is still ongoing, and the official reason for the ban has not been announced, and now it seems that it should be related to game manipulation and gambling.
Lu Ning, Li Xing, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning and Chang Bingyu are all young players of the Mesozoic or post-00s generation in the Chinese snooker industry, of which Lu Ning's ranking has also come to the TOP30 or so, Chang Bingyu is only 20 years old, are all players with great prospects, which is very regrettable.
Chang Bingyu
At present, the young player Chang Bingyu and the 37-year-old veteran Liang Wenbo have both expressed their views on the gambling incident. Chang Bingyu admitted on Weibo that he had played match-fixing, and his Weibo long post said that in a match against Welsh player Jamie Jones, it was Liang Wenbo who placed a heavy bet and forced himself to play match-fixing, and he was completely threatened by Liang Wenbo and will not make mistakes in the future. Liang Wenbo, on the other hand, sent a circle of friends denying match-fixing and threatened: I announce my retirement and withdraw from all competitions organized by the World Taiwan Federation. I may be going to have a press conference to break the news about what the snooker circle looks like. I'm going to uncover everything I know and make everything public.
Of the seven Chinese players caught up in recent scandals, Yan Bingtao had the worst impact, as his achievements and influence in the snooker world were much higher than those of the other players involved.
Yan Bingtao is currently ranked 16th in the world, second only to No. 9 Zhao Xintong, and the 22-year-old is the leader of the new generation of Chinese snooker and the world's first post-00 ranking champion of snooker. In 2019, Yan Bingtao won the Riga Masters and won his first ranking tournament title. At the Masters, one of the three major tournaments of snooker in 2021, Yan Bingtao defeated Higgins in the final to win the Masters for the first time.
At this year's World Championships, Yan Bingtao reached the quarterfinals in one fell swoop, setting a new personal best in the World Championships. December 12 coincides with the start of the main draw of the Snooker Scottish Open. Yan Bingtao, the 15th seed in the tournament, was supposed to participate, but due to his ban, his first-round opponent Ashley Hugill was directly awarded the winner, and Yan Bingtao could not participate in the subsequent matches.
Many snooker athletes also expressed their views after hearing the shocking news. Trump said of Yan Bingtao: "I think it's surprising, simply because of what he has achieved. I talked to him for a while and he seemed like a nice guy. They were so young, I just thought maybe they were forced to do it. ”
Chris Worklin, ranked 47th in the world, said: "It's been a very dark day for snooker. I doubt that the Taiwan Federation has found out the truth about this, but I am afraid of how deep this rabbit hole will be. Integrity is everything in sports, and it can jeopardize our interests for many years to come. ”
[If you have news leads, welcome to report to us, once adopted, there is a fee to thank you.] Report WeChat concern: ihxdsb, report QQ: 3386405712]