China has emerged as a leading player in snooker for the past decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has worked to promote snooker in China. There are over 50 million snooker players in China, making it the largest snooker playing country in the world. The Chinese have yet to win a world championship. As the sport grows more popular, it is predicted that Chinese snooker athletes will increase in number.
Chinese snooker is a national icon. Thousands of fans gather to watch tournaments. They are treated as A-list celebrities, enjoy red carpet entries and receive champagne receptions. More and more young athletes are joining the sport as it grows in popularity. Tian pengfei as well as Zhang Jiankang are some of the younger players.
Despite China being the world's largest snooker player in the last decade, another scandal has rocked the sport. Former professional player Yu Delu was suspended on 1 December for match-fixing. Yu is currently suspended for a period of 10 years. WPBSA also investigates match-fixing allegations in betting.
The suspensions have cast doubt over the sport, even though no player has been banned. Only 12 Chinese athletes are in the top 64. That number has been reduced to 11 after Zhao Xintong and Li Hang were added to the suspension list. The CBSA is also investigating allegations that Liang Wenbo Lu Ning and Chang Bingyu participated in match-fixing.
Yan Bingtao is the 2021 Masters champion, and is the most prominent name in the investigation. He was scheduled to play in a World Snooker Tour event next month. However, he was disqualified after being drew against Mark Williams in the first round. While he was considered to be the first Chinese player at a world championship, he has not commented on the ongoing investigation.
Zhao Xintong of China is also suspended from this year's World Snooker Tour. Earlier this season, he was ranked as the world's no. He is the world's number one player and is highly regarded in the sport. In a global investigation into match-fixing, he now faces criminal charges.
The investigation also included former world no. Liang Wenbo was suspended in October. Many other Chinese players have been disciplined for alleged abuse or cheating. This is only a fraction of the hundreds and millions of Chinese fans who have been following the sport.
However, the World Tour has a lot of Chinese players which shows the popularity of the game in China. More tournaments are held in China.
However, the country still has a long road ahead of it to be as successful in snooker as the UK. More tournaments are being held, which means that more young Chinese players are finding their way into the professional snooker scene.
At present, the two highest-ranking Chinese players in the world are Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui. Ding has many ranking titles and has a huge following in China. Ding stated that even though he has not won a World Championship, he would love to.