Beijing, June 6 (ZXS) -- Chinese snooker star and double champion of ranking tournaments apologized for his ignorant behavior involved in gambling on the 7th, and said that he would prove himself with his results and return to the field with a better image.
On the 6th local time, the World Professional Billy and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ruled on 10 Chinese players accused of manipulating the game: Liang Wenbo and Li Xing were banned for life, Yan Bingtao was banned for 5 years, Zhao Xintong was banned for 1 year and 8 months, and the remaining 6 were suspended at different times.
As the world's highest-ranked player in the Chinese snooker army, Zhao Xintong said in an "apology statement" released in the early morning of the 7th that in recent months, he has been regretting his ignorance and stupidity, and he has betrayed the trust of fans and shamed Chinese snooker.
He said that he participated in "gambling" because his life abroad alone was boring and isolated, leading him to follow the example of others choosing the most wrong way to pass the time. But he never had the thought or behavior of manipulating the game, nor did he get any kind of profit in return, "naively thinking that he was just responding to a good friend's request (to bet on snooker matches)".
"What is lost is cherished, and no words can express my love for snooker." Zhao Xintong said. He hopes to prove himself with results in the future and return to the competition with a better image.
The 26-year-old Zhao Xintong won two ranking tournaments at the 2021 British Championship and the 2022 German Masters, and was once ranked sixth in the world rankings and was once considered the "successor of Ding Junhui". However, in early January this year, following Liang Wenbo, Li Xing and others, Zhao Xintong was also banned by the World Taiwan Federation for allegedly manipulating the results of the game for the purpose of gambling. At the end of the 2022-2023 snooker season in May, Zhao Xintong, who has been suspended for several months, remains the world's highest-ranked player (11th) among Chinese players.
The findings of the WPBSA revealed that Zhao Xintong was the party of another player to manipulate two snooker matches on March 2022 and March 3, 3; Between September 3, 11 and December 2019, 9, bets on snooker matches were placed in violation of the regulations. The WPBSA Disciplinary Tribunal ruled that Zhao Xintong was sentenced to a ban of 1 years and 2022 months, which was reduced to 12 year and 31 months after his cooperation and guilty plea, until September 2, 6.
According to the WPBSA's ruling, Zhao Xintong was the shortest suspended of the 10 players penalized. It will be interesting to see if the ranking double champion can bounce back after 15 months. (End)