China has emerged as a leading player in snooker for the past decade. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association is trying to support the sport in China. China is the largest country that plays snooker and has over 50 million players. But the Chinese haven't yet seen a winner of the world championship. It is expected that the number of Chinese snooker players will increase rapidly as the sport becomes more popular.
Chinese snooker is a national icon. Thousands of fans gather to watch tournaments. 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. Tian Pengfei is among the youngest players. Zhang Jiankang is also among them.
Another scandal rocked snooker despite China's dominance over the sport in the past decade. Yu Delu, an ex-professional player, was suspended for match-fixing. Yu is currently suspended for a period of 10 years. WPBSA is also looking into match-fixing allegations to bet purposes.
Although there have not been any bans on specific players, they cast a shadow over this sport. Only 12 Chinese players are among the top 64 in the world. That number has been reduced to 11 after Zhao Xintong and Li Hang were added to the suspension list. The CBSA is also investigating allegations that Liang Wenbo Lu Ning and Chang Bingyu participated 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 expected to become the first Chinese player ever to win a championship in the world, his comment regarding the ongoing investigation is limited.
Zhao Xintong is another Chinese player who has been suspended from the World Snooker Tour. He was ranked world's No. 1 player earlier this year. He is considered to be the best player in the sport. Now, he's being investigated in a global probe of match-fixing.
Former world number one Chinese player has been under investigation. Liang Wenbo was suspended in October. Other Chinese players were also disciplined for cheating and abuse. This is a relatively small number when compared to the many millions of people who have followed the sport across China.
However, it is clear that the World Tour is enjoying widespread popularity in China due to the large number of Chinese players. In fact, there are more tournaments being held in China.
However, the country has still a long way to go to reach the success of the UK. There are more tournaments in China, and more Chinese players are getting into professional snooker.
At present, the two highest-ranking Chinese players in the world are Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui. Ding is an extremely popular Chinese player who has won numerous ranking titles. Ding said that he wants to win the World Championship even though he had not won one.