The final two winners of the World Snooker Championship each hail from China however considered one of their highly-rated compatriots stays banned from the game
Judd Trump backed Yan Bingtao to go proper to the highest (Picture: Getty)
Wu Yize’s victory on the World Snooker Championship means there have been Chinese language champions on the Crucible for 2 years in a row. Wu adopted Zhao Xintong in profitable the world title however one other of their compatriots has seen his probabilities of glory derailed by a prolonged ban. Yan Bingtao gained the Masters in 2021 and made 4 rating finals however has been banned from snooker till December 2027. Earlier than his suspension, he was tipped as a future world champion by Judd Trump however has been unable to return good on that prediction.
“He’s very mature for his age and he doesn’t go for something silly,” Trump stated forward of a match in opposition to Yan – aged 20 on the time – in 2020. “He takes his time and he has definitely bought an opportunity of being world champion sooner or later.” Trump additionally anticipated the rise of Chinese language gamers which we have now seen of late. “The way forward for the sport is in actually good arms with these Chinese language gamers, and sooner or later there will definitely be a extra even ratio of gamers from China and the UK,” he added.
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Earlier than being handed his suspension, Yan produced a career-best run to the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 2022. He beat prime seed Mark Selby within the second spherical, solely to be eradicated by Mark Williams.
The 26-year-old’s absence from the sport comes after he was caught up in a match-fixing scandal which noticed a complete of 10 gamers handed punishments. Whereas others bought shorter bans – together with Zhao, who returned from his suspension to win the world title in 2025 – Yan acquired one of many harsher penalties.
Liang Wenbo and Li Hold had been the toughest hit, with each males given lifetime bans. Yan was initially banned for seven years and 6 months however noticed this decreased to 5 years following early admissions and a responsible plea, with the World Skilled Billiards and Snooker Affiliation (WPBSA) confirming the discount in a 2023 assertion.
“This has been a really advanced case,” WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson stated on the time. “It has been heart-breaking to see some younger gifted gamers fall foul of the WPBSA Conduct Laws by way of stress exerted by two senior gamers. This behaviour has been recognised as wholly unacceptable by the imposition of two lifetime bans from collaborating in recognised snooker in any means.
“Those that attempt to corrupt sport are consistently looking for new methods to keep away from our monitoring processes and this consequence should be taken as a lesson to those that suppose they’ll keep away from detection. If any participant is concerned in fixing a snooker match, they are going to be caught and can face extreme penalties.”
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