Snooker boom can raise sport to level of table tennis in China, end stench of match-fixing

Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong’s victories at the World Championship will help to boost the growth of snooker in China, while removing the stench of corruption and match-fixing, sport insiders believe. Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, previously suggested the interest that greeted Wu’s triumph over Shaun Murphy could help the sport’s Olympics ambitions. And Django Fung, who manages top players, including world No 2 Neil Robertson and Murphy, said the wins also showed that China was about to enter an era of dominance in the sport. Zhao was one of 10 Chinese players suspended following an investigation into corruption in the sport. He served a 20-month ban before returning to win the World Championship in 2025. “Yes, it will remove the bad memories and it will be forgotten eventually,” Hongkonger Fung said. “Time can heal everything. There were life bans, and lengthy bans for some of the players involved. “There were also shorter bans, and for some of the players who returned, they did exceptionally well, so it’ll be fine.” Ferguson added that there were “unfortunate times and challenges” but he believed that those incidents were managed impeccably well. “What people have is full confidence in this sport, in what they’re watching. And that shows in the drama that we’ve produced worldwide in the world championships and the amazing viewing figures,” he said. “We will not stop monitoring matches. We will not stop keeping an eye over everything. We care for this sport, and we must be sure of the integrity of the sport.” Fung believes that the impact of the back-to-back wins at the Crucible will be felt for many years to come in China, and thinks Wu’s triumph may have “even greater” impact than Zhao’s. “With Wu’s win, you see these young kids of 22, 23 years of age, following up with Zhao’s victory, and then with the number of Chinese players in the top 16, you can feel that this could be the start of the snooker dominance for China,” Fung said. Zhao, who was named player of the year by the World Snooker Tour, and Wu, are third and fourth in the world rankings. There are 14 Chinese players in the top 50, second only to England’s 20. “Back-to-back titles [for Chinese players] represent youth development and future,” Ferguson said. “It’s driving more growth. There was already a huge expansion of snooker in China in the last few years. “Certainly in the last ten years we’ve seen a snooker boom, but it’s going on to another level now. Last year, it really boomed after Zhou’s famous win, it set the world alight again. “What we saw there was more investment, more manufacturers, more clubs popping up, and more players actually. So this second win is doing the same again.” Fung believes the wins have given Chinese players the belief they can win regularly, and could see the sport in the country develop along similar lines to table tennis. “I feel that snooker could emulate that [table tennis] and dominate not only the next decade, but maybe 20 to 30 years,” Fung said. “You look at the youngsters coming through and playing the game, the regular competitions taking place, and the academies that we have in the country, you can only visualise this is the way to go, just because of the size [and population] of the country.” While the Chinese are driving the market of late and creating more opportunities for all players worldwide “no matter where they come from”, Ferguson did not necessarily agree with Fung’s assessment. “It just so happens we’ve had two huge wins in the last two years of world championships. It is possible that China will become a strong force in snooker,” Ferguson said. “The rest of the world is still a majority in terms of players on the world snooker tour. “What we’ve got at the moment is a few players from China, knocking on that door of winning the major events, and it’s a really exciting time.” The chief of the world governing body added that, in a similar case to China, there was also a new amount of young talent coming through in the United Kingdom, particularly in England. “We’ve seen a huge uplift in the number of juniors entering these English under-14, under-16 championships,” the 56-year-old Englishman said. “Not every pathway is being won by a Chinese player. There are still plenty of other players coming through the system. “It’s a great example to the rest of the world, and I am using it in the UK lobbying our government to say, ‘Look, this is what’s happening [around the world]. The sport is booming.’”

Snooker boom can raise sport to level of table tennis in China, end stench of match-fixing

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}World Championship wins by Wu Yize and the previously banned Zhao Xintong can also ‘remove bad memories’ of corruption

World Championship wins by Wu Yize and the previously banned Zhao Xintong can also ‘remove bad memories’ of corruption