Chinese snooker star tipped to be world champion by Judd Trump is banned until 2027 | Other | Sport

“He is very mature for his age and he doesn’t go for anything stupid,” Trump said ahead of a match against Yan – aged 20 at the time – in 2020. “He takes his time and he has certainly got a chance of being world champion in the future.” Trump also anticipated the rise of Chinese players which we have seen of late. “The future of the game is in really good hands with these Chinese players, and in the future there will certainly be a more even ratio of players from China and the UK,” he added.

Before being handed his suspension, Yan produced a career-best run to the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 2022. He beat top seed Mark Selby in the second round, only to be eliminated by Mark Williams.

The 26-year-old’s absence from the game comes after he was caught up in a match-fixing scandal which saw a total of 10 players handed punishments. While others got shorter bans – including Zhao, who returned from his suspension to win the world title in 2025 – Yan received one of the harsher penalties.

Liang Wenbo and Li Hang were the hardest hit, with both men given lifetime bans. Yan was initially banned for seven years and six months but saw this reduced to five years following early admissions and a guilty plea, with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) confirming the reduction in a 2023 statement.

“This has been a very complex case,” WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said at the time. “It has been heart-breaking to see some young talented players fall foul of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations through pressure exerted by two senior players. This behaviour has been recognised as wholly unacceptable by the imposition of two lifetime bans from participating in recognised snooker in any way.

“Those who try to corrupt sport are constantly trying to find new ways to avoid our monitoring processes and this outcome must be taken as a lesson to those who think they can avoid detection. If any player is involved in fixing a snooker match, they will be caught and will face severe penalties.”