China has become a global leader in snooker in the last decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has been trying to help the sport in China. China is home of more than 50,000,000 snooker players, making it the biggest snooker-playing country in the globe. The Chinese have yet to win a world championship. As the sport becomes more popular, it is expected that Chinese snooker will grow in popularity.
Chinese snooker is a national icon. Every tournament attracts thousands of spectators. They are treated like stars, get red carpet entrances and champagne receptions. As the popularity of the sport grows, more and more young players are emerging. Among the younger players are Tian Pengfei and Zhang Jiankang.
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 in a 10-year suspension. WPBSA is also looking into match-fixing allegations to bet purposes.
While there are no bans for specific players, these suspensions cast a shadow upon the sport. There are only 12 Chinese players in the top 64 of the world. That number has been reduced to 11 after Zhao Xintong and Li Hang were added to the suspension list. Additionally, the CBSA is currently investigating allegations that Liang Wenbo and Lu Ning were involved with 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. Although he was tipped to be the first Chinese player to win a world championship, his comment on the ongoing investigation has been limited.
Zhao Xintong of China is also suspended from this year's World Snooker Tour. He was ranked the no.1 player in the world earlier this 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.
Ex-world no. 1 Chinese players have also been investigated. Liang Wenbo was suspended in October. Other Chinese players were also disciplined for cheating and abuse. 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. There are even more tournaments in China.
However, the country has still a long way to go to reach the success of the UK. As more tournaments are held, more Chinese players are making their way into professional snooker.
Zhao Xintong (currently) and Ding Junhui (currently), are the top-ranking Chinese players worldwide. Ding has won numerous ranking titles, and he has an enormous following in China. Ding expressed his desire to win the World Championship, even though he did not win a championship.