Snooker stars wanted Zhao Xintong banned from World Championship before he won it | Other | Sport

Shaun Murphy claims a number of players on the professional snooker tour questioned why Zhao Xintong was allowed to compete in the World Championship. The 28-year-old made history at the Crucible on Monday by becoming the first Asian world champion in the sport’s history, but his success came after controversy.

Zhao was competing as an amateur, having returned to action in November after serving a 20-month ban for his involvement in snooker’s biggest match-fixing scandal. The Chinese potter accepted charges of being party to another player fixing two matches while betting on matches himself. Zhao’s initial suspension was 30 months, but it was later reduced to 20 after he pled guilty.

However, despite his global ban ending in September, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) stuck with his initial punishment.

It means Zhao can’t mark his achievement – after beating Mark Williams 18-12 and Ronnie O’Sullivan 17-7 in the semi-finals – by competing in his homeland until July 1.

According to Murphy, plenty of players have questioned why Zhao was eligible to compete at the Crucible when his suspension remains in place in China.

“This point was made to anyone in World Snooker and the WPBSA who would listen at the time,” Murphy said on the OneFourSeven Snooker Podcast.

“Asking the question, how can a player who is still banned by their own governing body be seen and be deemed to be in good standing?

“And therefore be allowed to enter WPBSA events such as Q Tour – that was a question that was asked about ten months ago, before the start of the season that’s just ended.

“It seemed fairly black and white to most of us that he wasn’t in good standing with his national governing body.

“There are lots of other players that this has and does, and will apply to. You can’t just go around joining federations and tournaments as you see fit.

“You have to be in good standing. The question we all asked was, how can a player who is still banned be deemed to be in good standing?

“I’m yet to hear a satisfactory answer from anyone at WPBSA Towers or the tour, so I don’t know the answer.”

Murphy described the situation as “odd” and insisted that “a lot of players have the same view”, with the Players’ Board discussing it at length with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

The 2005 world champion shared that the WPBSA considered Xintong to be in good standing, despite his ongoing ban in China, which is said to have caused confusion.

Murphy added: “The argument I’ve seen a lot is that he’s been away from the game – he didn’t take a gap year, he didn’t go on a sabbatical to go and feed refugees somewhere.

“There was an enforced suspension because he’d done something wrong. He’s done the crime, he did his time, and therefore should be allowed back.

“But that’s where it gets a bit sticky, because there is an argument being made that he didn’t do his time. That’s a big problem for a lot of people that raised it at the time, and it’s still being raised today.

“There are a lot of people of the view that, actually, had he served his full ban and come back to the sport when he was in good standing with his NGB, as per the WPBSA rules by the way, no one would have a word to say about it.

“It’s a strange one. Jason Ferguson was on telly over the weekend saying that it’s unprecedented and this and that – that we’ve never seen it before.

“Then in another interview, [he was] saying there are rules in place for this type of thing, and it’s happened before, and the rules are well established. Which one is it? We don’t know.”