Masters champion Yan Bingtao is the next snooker player to be suspended over possible score-fixing. Snooker is considered to be particularly susceptible to so-called “match fixing”.
Jason Ferguson wrapped the bad news with typically British understatement: “Of course it doesn’t look too good this morning”said the president of the world snooker governing body WPBSA on the BBC on the suspension of top player Yan Bingtao, which is shaking up the sport of snooker. “We’re making tremendous progress. Our sport is played 99.99 percent with clean intentions.”
It remains to be seen whether it is really only the 0.01 percent estimated by the head of the association who are at the snooker table with fraudulent intentions. With Yan Bingtao, the circle of suspected players has definitely reached the top of the world: The 22-year-old Chinese is currently ranked 16th in the world, last year he won the Masters, one of the four major tournaments in snooker.
Yan Bingtao suspended – with five other players
Before Yan Bingtao, five other Chinese snooker pros had been banned. As a result of a major match-fixing investigation into betting cheating that has been ongoing since October. These investigations, according to association chief Ferguson, have now “new insights” provided, which also burden Yan Bingtao. So distressing that they led to the “hard decision” to suspend him, as Ferguson said.
Snooker – particularly vulnerable to result manipulation
Snooker, probably the most demanding billiards discipline, is considered to be particularly susceptible to manipulation of results, due to the peculiarities and counting of the game: A snooker match, like in tennis, has a certain number of winning sets, called “frames” in snooker. The balls have to be pocketed in a certain order, the 15 red balls always alternating with one of the other colors (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black). Until the table is cleared or a player, with a maximum of 147 points, is unassailable in front.
A high series of points is usually decisive for winning a set. But even the smallest mistake when punching or placing on the next ball can give the opponent the chance to start their own high series – and to win the frame. This also happens to the greats of the sport, in the course of a long, mentally extremely demanding match, which can last more than 20 or even 30 frames depending on the tournament. Whether a player then misses a ball due to a lack of concentration or whether he might want to give up the set on purpose can hardly be understood from the outside.
“Match-fixing” suspicion also against former number one Higgins
The most prominent suspected case so far showed how susceptible snooker is to possible betting fraud: Against John Higgins, the former number one in the world rankings. Higgins reportedly discussed the possibility of fake results in a 2010 meeting with News of the World reporters posing as tournament organizers. Higgins, the paper reports, was said to have been offered £260,000 in exchange for dropping frames in four specific tournaments. The “Magician of Wishaw“, as the Scotsman is called in the snooker scene, ended up getting off with a fine after not Higgins but his manager at the time was accused of attempted fraud. But there were further investigations against snooker greats before and after on suspicion of “match-fixing”.
Snooker with connections in the sports betting industry
World Snooker emphasizes that it has consistently pursued suspected cases in the past. The currently uncovered cases are also due to their own investigations, it said. The association works with the data service provider Sportradar, the company also displays suspicious betting activities in other sports such as tennis. In snooker, on the other hand, the professional tour itself is strongly networked with the sports betting industry, with betting providers operating as name sponsors in the major tournaments.
The fact that a total of seven professionals from China are currently suspended holds additional explosiveness: China is an important market for world snooker, with its own TV deal, and the expensive snooker tables are also supplied by a Chinese sponsor. Until the corona pandemic, the China Open was also an integral part of the tournament calendar. Should the event return to China, some of the local players may be absent.