China has become a global leader in snooker in the last decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has tried to improve the sport in China. China is the largest country that plays snooker and has over 50 million players. But, China has yet to host a world champion. As the sport becomes more popular, it is expected that Chinese snooker will grow in popularity.
Chinese snooker players have been hailed as icons of their country. Every tournament attracts thousands of spectators. They are treated as celebrities and have red carpet entries. Champagne receptions are also arranged. There are more young players becoming involved in the sport, as the popularity grows. Among the younger players are Tian Pengfei and Zhang Jiankang.
Another scandal rocked snooker despite China's dominance over the sport in the past decade. Yu Delu, a former professional player was suspended in December for match fixing. Yu is currently on a 10-year ban. 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. 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 scheduled to play in a World Snooker Tour event next month. After being drawn against Mark Williams in Round 1, he was disqualified. While he was considered to be the first Chinese player at a world championship, he has not commented on the ongoing investigation.
Another Chinese player, Zhao Xintong, is suspended from the World Snooker Tour. He was ranked no.1 in the world earlier in the season. He is considered one of the top players in the game. But now, he is being investigated as part of a global probe into match-fixing.
Another Chinese player that has been investigated is the former world no. Liang Wenbo was suspended in October. A number of other Chinese players were reprimanded after being accused of cheating and abuse. These are just a handful of players in China, compared with the many millions of fans who follow the sport.
Nevertheless, the fact that a large number of Chinese players are on the World Tour shows that the game is gaining widespread popularity 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. Younger Chinese players are making their mark on the professional snooker circuit by participating in more tournaments.
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 said that he wants to win the World Championship even though he had not won one.