China has become a major player in snooker over the past decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association tries to help China's snooker. 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 is a national icon. Every tournament attracts thousands of spectators. They are treated like celebrities and get champagne receptions. As the popularity of the sport grows, more and more young players are emerging. Tian Pengfei is among the youngest players. Zhang Jiankang is also among them.
Despite the fact that China has become the dominant force in snooker in the past decade, the sport has been hit by another scandal. Yu Delu, a former professional player, was banned on 1/12 for match-fixing. Yu is currently suspended for a period of 10 years. WPBSA also investigates match-fixing allegations in betting.
While no specific players have been banned, the suspensions cast a shadow over the sport. There are 12 Chinese players among the 64 top-ranked athletes in the world. This number has been reduced from 12 to 11, after Zhao Xintong was added to the suspension. The CBSA is also investigating claims that Chang Bingyu, Lu Ning, and Liang Wenbo were involved in match-fixing.
Yan Bingtao is the 2021 Masters champion, and is the most prominent name in the investigation. He was to take part in a World Snooker Tour tournament 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 is another Chinese player who has been suspended from the World Snooker Tour. He was the world's number one player earlier this season. He is considered one of the top players in the game. Now, he's being investigated in a global probe of match-fixing.
Former world number one Chinese player has been under investigation. Liang Wenbo (suspended in October) was another Chinese player under investigation. Many other Chinese players have been disciplined for alleged abuse or cheating. These are a small number compared to the hundreds of millions of fans who have followed the sport in China.
However, the World Tour has a lot of Chinese players which shows the popularity of the game in China. The country is hosting more tournaments.
The country still has a lot of work to do before it can be as successful as the UK. As more tournaments are held, more Chinese players are making their way into professional snooker.
Zhao Xintong & Ding Junhui are currently the top-ranked Chinese players in the entire world. Ding has won numerous ranking titles, and he has an enormous following in China. Ding stated that even though he has not won a World Championship, he would love to.