The snooker star was one in all 10 gamers who had been banned after a scandal rocked the game to its core.
Yan Bingtao obtained the ban three years in the past (Picture: Picture by Tai Chengzhe/Visible China Group by way of Getty Photos)
Former Masters snooker champion Yan Bingtao will stay banned from the game till subsequent yr. The Chinese language star was discovered responsible of match-fixing alongside 9 different gamers from his residence nation in 2023 and can play no half within the Masters 2026.
Zhao Xintong is the reigning world champion and even he was stung by the massive scandal – spending one yr and eight months away from the tables. Liang Wenbo and Li Hold spear-headed the dishonest operation and got lifetime bans after being discovered responsible of a plethora of offences.
The crimes of the 2 leaders included match-fixing and coercing different gamers into manipulating matches. There are eight gamers remaining, 5 of them are nonetheless serving suspensions, together with Yan. The latter was banned for 4 years in 2023 for rigging 4 completely different video games and betting on a mess of others between 2016 and 2022. The preliminary seven-year and six-month ban was diminished as a result of he admitted to the offences early and pleaded responsible.
Yan was performing extremely effectively up up to now, profitable the Masters in 2021, so the scandal and subsequent ban actually burned him. The massive victory got here in a behind-closed-doors occasion, defeating Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham and John Higgins within the course of.
He was solely 20 years outdated on the time and have become solely the second Chinese language participant to safe glory within the competitors after Ding Junhui. In addition to this, he was additionally the youngest winner since Ronnie O’Sullivan in 1995.
Only a yr earlier than the match-fixing scandal rocked the game, Yan was in pink sizzling kind, defeating Mark Selby within the second spherical of the 2022 World Championship. He very almost reached the semi-finals, too, however Welshman Mark Williams obtained one of the best of him the final eight, profitable 13-11.
The 25-year-old, who’ll flip 26 in just a few weeks, is not going to return to snooker till December 2027. Zhao Xintong, Chang Bingyu and Zhao Jianbo, who had been additionally concerned within the scandal, have already accomplished their suspensions and are eligible to play once more.
Chang is predicted to rejoin the professional tour subsequent season after profitable the Asia-Pacific Championship, together with his suspension ending in December 2024. Zhao Jianbo’s ban concluded on the tail finish of final yr. Regardless of the scandal shrouding Chinese language snooker into controversy, world champ Zhao has grow to be a broadly beloved star within the sport after his win over Williams final yr.
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Talking about his time spent banned, Zhao mentioned: “I had almost two years not enjoying in tour competitions and that is why I mentioned my first goal was to get by means of qualifying to the Crucible. I can not consider I went on to be champion, however I’m again now and I need to maintain going.”
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