Zhao set for comeback after match-fixing scandal

Zhao beat Luca Brucel in the final to win the UK Championship title three years ago

The 2021 UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong is set to return to snooker later this month after serving a ban.

He was one of 10 Chinese players to be given bans last year as part of the sport’s biggest match-fixing scandal, although he did not directly throw a match himself.

Zhao is entered to play in the WPBSA Q Tour event in Bulgaria, which starts on 20 September in Sofia.

The 27-year-old was given a ban of one year and eight months, reduced from two and a half years after his early admissions and guilty plea.

He had to pay £7,500 in costs. He accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

His suspension ran from when he was first suspended in January 2023, and he was free to play on 2 September this year.

Zhao received the lowest penalty of the 10 players banned and is drawn to play Vilius Schulte-Ebbert on his return.

Zhao remains suspended in China only until July 2025 after authorities there imposed a longer suspension, said the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

“The Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association has now confirmed that their sanction only applies to mainland China and that Zhao Xintong is permitted to play in events outside of China from the end of his WPBSA suspension," it said.

“Zhao will have served the suspension imposed by the Independent Disciplinary Commission by 1st September 2024, and he has paid his costs order. This means that he is eligible to play in WPBSA-governed events from 2nd September 2024."

Liang Wenbo and Li Hang were handed lifetime bans for their involvement in the scandal.

Eight other players received bans ranging from 20 months to five years and four months.

The allegations included manipulating games, approaching players to cheat, betting on snooker and fixing matches.

Yan Bingtao, the 2021 Masters champion, was banned until December 2027,

He accepted charges of fixing four snooker matches he played in and betting on matches.