Snooker star at centre of match-fixing storm will compete in UK Championship qualifying after ban expired

A CHINESE snooker player who was involved in last year’s match-fixing storm will compete in UK Championship qualifying this month.

Zhao Xintong has the chance to scoop the £250,000 top prize after being announced as one of 16 elite amateurs to take part in the early rounds of the second-biggest event on the professional snooker calendar.

Qualifying rounds take place in Leicester between November 16-21 and then the top 16 progress to the York Barbican where they could face the likes of reigning world champion Kyren Wilson, world No1 Judd Trump and the sport’s greatest player, Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Should Xintong – winner of the UK Championship crown in 2021 – progress through four rounds of qualifiers at the Mattioli Arena, he will appear in the latter stages on BBC TV later this month.

Yet even though he has earned his spot by merit – he was triumphant in event three on the WPBSA Q Tour Europe – his involvement in such a prestigious tournament is a controversial one.

In June 2023, Xintong was one of ten Chinese players charged with match-fixing offences by an independent World Professional Billiards and Snooker association (WPBSA) disciplinary commission.

He was given a two-year and six-month suspension and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.

This ban was reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty to one year and eight months – and that ban expired at the start of September.

None of the other nine disgraced stars have served the full length of their suspensions.

According to the disciplinary commission, the former top-10 player accepted in March 2022 that “he was a party to another player fixing two snooker matches”.

And between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022, “he bet on snooker matches in breach of the rules”.

Xintong, 27, is no longer on the World Snooker Tour but has the chance to regain a Tour Card in Qualifying School in the summer of 2025.

Lifetime bans were slapped on ringleaders Liang Wenbo and Li Hang.

Xintong’s involvement in the investigation last year shocked many within the sport, especially given that he is someone well-respected for his talents.

O’Sullivan, the seven-time world champion, once tipped the cueist nicknamed the Cyclone for his rapid style of play to go on and become the “best player in the world”.

Speaking after Xintong crushed Luca Brecel 10-5 to lift the UK title three years ago, the Rocket said: “If he can stand up and show pressure, there is no player on the circuit that has the complete game like him.

“He is like Steve Davis but with Jimmy White’s talent. Very, very scary.”