Snooker Player Banned for Match-Fixing Wins World Championship

• Zhao Xintong became the first Asian player to win the World Snooker Championship.
• 27-year-old served a 20-month ban related to a match-fixing scandal.

Snooker has a new world champion and he’s fresh off a ban for involvement in match-fixing.  Zhao Xintong beat Welsh three-time world champion Mark Williams by 18 frames to 12 to become the game’s first Asian champion at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, on Monday night.

Snooker is a cue sport played on a table that’s 12ft in length and just over 6ft wide with 21 colored balls and a white cue ball. The goal is to pot the balls in a specific order to score points. It’s more complex and tactical than pool, and the annual World Championship – held at the Crucible – is considered the sport’s Super Bowl.

Zhao’s victory has sparked a wave of enthusiasm across his homeland, where the game has exploded in popularity over the past two decades – with over 150 million glued to their screens on Monday.

Scandal Rocked Snooker

But until 227 days ago, Zhao was banned from the game for his involvement in a match-fixing ring uncovered in 2022. Zhao was not accused of directly throwing a match, but was found to have knowledge that others were manipulating games and admitted to betting on games himself.

In January 2023, an independent disciplinary tribunal banned Zhao from professional competition until September 2024.

After serving his time, Zhao had to win the world championship the hard way. Rather than being seeded into the competition, he had to qualify via the amateur circuits. That makes him the first “amateur” to win the title.

Redemption Arc

Judging by the warm reception of the crowd at the Crucible on Monday, Zhao was forgiven.

It’s very good for Chinese snooker,” Zhao said after his win. “I’m very happy I’ve done this for them. It’s unbelievable. This is like a dream. When I shook hands with Mark [Williams] I nearly cried. My first target was just to get through the qualifiers. In the future, many Chinese players can win this.”

After the game, Williams was full of praise for his opponent, an exciting, attacking player who is likely to dominate the game for years to come.

“There’s a new superstar of the game. He just strolls around the table and pots balls from anywhere as if he doesn’t have a care in the world,” Williams said.