Ronnie O'Sullivan made his first statement about the involvement of a number of domestic players in match-fixing after easily reaching the quarterfinals at the Snooker Masters, and he not only failed to blame former world champion Ken Dahedi, but even sympathized with the suspended golfers, prompting a statement from the World Snooker Association to refute it.
The suspension of 10 Chinese snooker players involved in match-fixing cases, including 2021 Masters champion Yan Bingtao and world No. 9 Zhao Xintong, shocked the football world. O'Sullivan was the first to speak out about the incident after beating Belgium's Luca Brecel 6-1 at the Masters.
O'Sullivan: "They may be forced to do it in desperation"
O'Sullivan, who has always spoken amazingly, is no exception: "There can only be two cases: one is [gambling] addiction, and if so, they need help; Otherwise, they just won't be able to make enough money to live. He sympathized with the suspended players, "maybe they were forced to do this in desperation, which is not an ideal situation." ”
O'Sullivan called for the World Snooker Federation (WPBSA) "to help and support them, not to punish them heavily." He even thinks snooker should change its structure so that the players don't have to find themselves in this situation again. Citing other sports as examples, he said: "I'm sure this has happened in football, but football hasn't hurt. I'm sure tennis has happened and tennis hasn't hurt anything. It can be corrected and dealt with. ”
Why did O'Sullivan intercede for the player involved?
Even though the high-ranking O'Sullivan personally interceded for the authorities to lightly dismiss a group of suspended players, the snooker regulator ignored it, and even issued a statement "without mercy" to refute his claim point by point: "Both the World Snooker Tour (WST) and the World Snooker Federation (WPBSA) provide enough support and opportunities through WST to guarantee income and win huge prizes." Our structure already includes a Player Board and providing benefits and support to our players is extremely important to us. ”
O'Sullivan has always been on the side of the player, but this time it is involved in a rather sensitive match-fixing case, and it is still tilted in favor of the player involved, or it is more or less related to emotional factors. Zhao Xintong, a young Chinese golfer involved in the case, who personally coached O'Sullivan, once told Eurosport: "Xintong reminds me of my son, and I look at him and think of my son Ronnie." I have a heart for my heart boy like a father to protect him, and I want to see him behave. He is very talented and a cute boy. ”
He has high expectations for Zhao Xintong: "I want to see him show his good skills to the world, he will play the most beautiful style." I had a good relationship with him, and I used to say to him, 'You're the one who talks, I'm here to help you, but if you tell me to shut up, I'll do it.'" Another Chinese player, Yan Bingtao, who was also suspended, was also praised by O'Sullivan as a "born winner".
Zhao Xintong was supposed to play in the Masters with O'Sullivan and Yan Bingtao, but Zhao and Yan, the world's top 16 players, were both suspended and had to be replaced by other players.
Liang Wenbo, the first player to be suspended in this Chinese snooker match-fixing incident, was suspended by the World Snooker Federation on October 27, 2022. By December, 8 players were punished in a row, first on the 9th, Lu Ning, Li Xing, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning and Chang Bingyu were suspended, and only 3 days later, on the 12th, Yan Bingtao was also penalized; On the 23rd, Chen Zifan was also suspended, and by January 3, 2023, Zhao Xintong and Zhang Health also joined the ranks, and a total of 10 people were suspended.
The suspension of Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao has dealt a great blow to China's snooker scene, and China is currently the only one in the top 16 in the world, and the two are regarded as the new generation leaders of Chinese snooker.