Recently, the official website of the World Snooker Association WST issued a statement announcing the results of the investigation and ruling of 10 players involved in match-fixing cases in China. Among them, Liang Bowen and Li Xing were banned for life, and Yan Bingtao was banned for 5 years. Another famous player, Zhao Xintong, narrowly escaped and was only banned for 20 months. After September 1 next year, he will be able to return to the competition.
As we all know, Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong have achieved good results in international competitions in the first two years, and these two are also regarded as Ding Junhui's successors. Especially Zhao Xintong, many people in the industry are optimistic about him, and O'Sullivan appreciates this young man even more. But unexpectedly, the young Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao were involved in the match-fixing case.
Although these two people participated in the manipulation of snooker matches under the inducement of Liang Wenbo, since they are adults, they should have their own judgment and pay for their improper behavior. Compared with other banned players, Zhao Xintong's final punishment is relatively light, and the official recommended ban period is 2 years and 6 months, but the actual ban period is 1 year and 8 months. In other words, Zhao Xintong can lift the ban and make a comeback next year.
Zhao Xintong, a leading figure in China's new generation of snooker, won the British Championship in 2021 and beat Yan Bingtao at the Dego Masters last year to reach the top. This young man is not only handsome, but also has a very prominent family. It is understood that Zhao Xintong's father is the vice president of a hospital, while his mother is a nurse at the hospital. When he was 10 years old, Zhao Xintong's father bought him a snooker table, and you can imagine how strong his family's financial resources are.
Of course, Zhao Xintong himself is also very competitive, the previous British Championship and the German Masters championship, so that he received 280,000 pounds (equivalent to about 2.4 million yuan), plus some other competition bonuses, as well as advertising endorsement income, Zhao Xintong in just one year accounted for more than 3 million yuan. In August last year, Zhao Xintong posted his new mansion in the UK, and also showed off Rolls-Royce, entering the "house and car" family at the age of 25, handsome and golden, a veritable rich and handsome!
In addition, Zhao Xintong also dated a high-quality girlfriend. The two met in the UK, when the woman was an international student, more than 1.7 meters tall, beautiful and white-skinned, and her appearance was not lost to the model at all. Now, the woman is studying for a master's degree, but after Zhao Xintong's involvement in match-fixing was exposed, she has never posted about her boyfriend on social media, and it is unknown whether the two parties are still dating.
Anyway, Zhao Xintong is relatively lucky this time, after all, Yan Bingtao has been banned for 5 years. For Zhao Xintong, the ban is a wake-up call for him, hoping that he can change his past mistakes, start from scratch, and complete his redemption!