Due to match-fixing, two Chinese snooker players received lifetime bans.

Li Hang and Liang Wenbo are charged with match-fixing and inciting other players to follow suit.

 

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has banned Chinese snooker players Liang Wenbo and Li Hang from the game for life due to their involvement in a match-fixing incident that also involved eight other Chinese nationals.

 

An impartial disciplinary panel on Tuesday discovered that Liang and Li had rigged five games in July before pressuring or encouraging others to do the same between July and December.

 

One of the largest snooker tournaments on the calendar, the UK Championship, is where Liang has previously reached the finals. The two can file an appeal against the ruling until June 20.

 

The World Snooker Tour sanctioned ten Chinese players in all, including two of the biggest names in the sport, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao.

 

Zhao, the winner of the UK Championship that year, received a one-year and eight-month punishment, while Yan, the 2021 Masters champion, received a five-year ban.

After receiving a tip in August from the integrity units of World Snooker and the International Betting Integrity Association, an inquiry was opened. An investigation was then launched, and the ten players were suspended.

 

According to World Snooker chairman Jason Ferguson, “it has been heartbreaking to see some young talented players fall foul of the [World Snooker] Conduct Regulations through pressure exerted by two senior players.”

 

“This behavior has been acknowledged as completely wrong, and there will be two lifelong bans from any kind of recognized snooker participation as a result.”

 

Ferguson expressed his satisfaction that there was “no evidence of a wider culture of wrongdoing in snooker” according to the inquiry.

This must serve as a warning to those who believe they can get away with it. He continued, “Any player found to be involved in snooker match fixing will be exposed and punished severely.”