Zhao goes trophy hunting after match-fixing ban ends

When the main stage of the UK Championship - still widely considered snooker's second-biggest event after the World Championship - kicks off in York this afternoon, there will be an amateur player taking to the baize.

- LUKE BAKER

Having battled through four rounds of qualifying to reach the Barbican Centre, he will line up in the last 32 against former world champion and current world No 9 Shaun Murphy. Normally, an established star like Murphy would go into a match like this as heavy favourite but according to the bookies, the 42year-old is an underdog.

In fact, this amateur player is generally being priced as fifth favourite to win the entire tournament – with odds of 14-1 being similar to those of 2022 UK champion Mark Allen, the man who has reached the final of the event each of the last two years Ding Junhui, three-time champion of the world Mark Williams and 24-time ranking event winner Neil Robertson.

This despite the fact that he hasn’t competed in a professional tournament since 2022. As you’ve probably gathered by now, this isn’t any ordinary amateur snooker player. This is Zhao Xintong. The 27-year-old star who, after brilliantly winning the UK Championship back in 2021, has spent the past two years banned from snooker for his role in the match-fixing scandal that engulfed a number of the sport’s biggest Chinese players.

York this week marks Zhao’s return to the big stage and the reaction of the Barbican crowd will be fascinating to observe. Before his ban, he was fast becoming a fan favourite due to his flamboyant style of play, ferocious long potting and unbelievable skill with a cue in his hand. But the match-fixing scandal has left something of a black mark by his name.

The high-profile scandal engulfed snooker in early 2023 as 10 Chinese players were charged with varying degrees of matchfixing, and ultimately Liang Wenbo and Li Hang were banned from the sport for life. Former world No 11 Liang’s behaviour was identified as “particularly disgraceful” by the WPBSA disciplinary commission that carried out the hearing.