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. China is home of more than 50,000,000 snooker players, making it the biggest snooker-playing country in the globe. However, the Chinese have not yet had a world championship winner. As the sport grows more popular, it is predicted that Chinese snooker athletes will increase in number.
Chinese snooker stars are revered as icons in China. Thousands of fans gather to watch tournaments. They are treated as celebrities and have red carpet entries. Champagne receptions are also arranged. The sport is becoming more popular and more players are coming up. 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. Yu Delu, a former professional player was suspended in December for match fixing. Yu is currently in a 10-year suspension. 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. After Zhao Xintong's suspension and Li Hang's addition, the number of Chinese players in the top 64 has fallen to 11. Moreover, the CBSA is investigating allegations that Liang Wenbo, Lu Ning and Chang Bingyu were involved in match-fixing.
Yan Bingtao is the 2021 Masters champion, and is the most prominent name in the investigation. He was set to compete in a World Snooker Tour competition next month. After being drawn against Mark Williams in Round 1, he was disqualified. While he was expected to become the first Chinese player ever to win a championship in the world, his comment regarding the ongoing investigation is limited.
Zhao Xintong from China has been removed from the World Snooker Tour. He was the world's number one player earlier this season. 1 player, and is regarded as one of the best in the sport. But now, he is being investigated as part of a global probe into match-fixing.
Former world number one Chinese player has been under investigation. 11 Liang Wenbo, who was suspended in October. Numerous other Chinese athletes were also punished for alleged cheating. This is a relatively small number when compared to the many millions of people who have followed the sport across China.
However, the World Tour has a lot of Chinese players which shows the popularity of the game in China. Indeed, more tournaments are being held in the country.
However, the country has still a long way to go to reach the success of the UK. There are more tournaments in China, and more Chinese players are getting into professional snooker.
Zhao Xintong is currently the highest-ranking Chinese player in the world, followed by Ding Junhui. Ding has many ranking titles and has a huge following in China. Ding said that he wants to win the World Championship even though he had not won one.