Snooker star banned over match-fixing row learns World Championship fate | Other | Sport

A snooker star who was banned for two years is set for a return to the World Championship table ahead of this month’s tournament. Chang Bingyu was handed a ban for match-fixing and was one of 10 Chinese potters punished back in June 2023.

That included reigning world champion Zhao Xintong, who received the shortest ban of 20 months, having been found to have not fixed a match himself. Chang is preparing for a comeback to the World Snooker Tour next season, but is still able to qualify for the World Championship before his return.

Chang was banned for two years for match-fixing. He was originally handed a three-year suspension, which was reduced for his early admission of wrongdoing.

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As such, he’s entered the qualifying rounds of the World Championship and has been placed in round two for the preliminary rounds. As such, Chang will need to win just three matches to qualify for the main draw at the Crucible, which will get underway in mid-April.

Chang will be battling for one of 16 qualifying spots, and is joined by plenty of big names in the preliminary round. Every player outside the world’s top 16 is in the qualifiers, including former world champions Stuart Bingham and Luca Brecel.

The latter has suffered a huge fall from grace since winning the 2023 edition of the Championship, and is currently ranked 46th in the world. The draw also includes tournament winners from this season, with Jack Lisowski and Stephen Maguire forced to do the hard yards.

Elsewhere, Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Zhang Anda and Jak Jones have all enjoyed seeded entries into the World Championship in recent years, but will be put through qualifying. Players ranked 17th to 48th in the world enter round three and only need to win two matches to secure qualification.

Perhaps one of the most eyebrow-raising clashes of the opening round sees 15-year-old Polish sensation Michal Szubarczyk taking on Ng On Yee. The Hong Kong ace is a former women’s world champion, while Szubarczyk is being tipped for a long and fruitful career in the sport.

Hatem Yassen vs Fergal Quinn

Haydon Pinhey vs Jamie Clarke

Michal Szubarczyk vs Ng On Yee

Robbie McGuigan vs Hammad Miah

Yao Pengcheng vs Ryan Davies

David Grace vs Ashley Hugill

Liam Pullen vs Alfie Burden

Liam Graham vs Oliver Sykes

Steven Hallworth vs Kreishh Gurbaxani

Ken Doherty vs Patrick Whelan

Chris Totten vs Daniel Boyes

Haris Tahir vs Connor Benzey

Ross Muir vs Michael Larkov

Marco Fu vs Mink Nutcharut

Farakh Ajaib vs Umut Dikme

Mateusz Baranowski vs Florian Nuessle

Dylan Emery vs Anton Kazakov

Lan Yuhao vs Chatchapong Nasa

Reanne Evans vs Vladislav Gradinari

Liam Highfield vs Oliver Brown

Zhao Hanyang vs Mahmoud El Hareedy

Cheung Ka Wai vs Ashley Carty

Bulcsu Revesz vs Craig Steadman

Bai Yulu vs Daniel Womersley

Huang Jiahao vs Leone Crowley

Xu Yichen vs Stuart Carrington

Ian Burns vs Sahil Nayyar

Alexander Ursenbacher vs Prin Ratmukda

Mitchell Mann vs Wang Xinbo

Iulian Boiko vs Mann/Wang

Scott Donaldson vs Luz/P Lines

Sanderson Lam vs Szubarcyk/Ng

David Lilley vs Yao/Davies

Duane Jones vs Huang/Crowley

Michael Holt vs Bai/Womersley

Gong Chenzhi vs McGuigan/Miah

Jiang Jun vs Cheung Ka Wai/Carty

Robbie Williams vs Muir/Larkov

Antoni Kowalski vs Tahir/Benzey

Jamie Jones vs Evans/Gradinari

Robert Milkins vs Doherty/Whelan

Artemijs Zizins vs Emery/Kazakov

Ricky Walden vs Baranowski/Nuessle

Amir Sarkhosh vs Pullen/Burden

Chang Bingyu vs Ursenbacher/Ratmukda

Jordan Brown vs Burns/Nayyar

Isphreet Singh Chadha vs Totten/Boyes

Liu Hongyu vs Xu/Carrington

Allan Taylor vs Hallworth/Gurbaxani

Lyu Haotian vs Graham/Sykes

Louis Heathcote vs Revesz/Steadman

Julien Leclercq vs Grace/Hugill

Martin O’Donnell vs Zhao Hanyang/El Hareedy

Wang Yuchen vs Highfield/Brown

Oliver Lines vs Liu Wenwei/Llloyd

Ben Mertens vs Pinhey/Clarke

Long Zehuang vs Yassen/Quinn

Sam Craigie vs Ajaib/Dikme