Shaun Murphy has made clear his belief that Zhao Xintong deserves a place back on the snooker circuit after his ban, following his involvement in the sport’s match-fixing scandal.Although not involved in directly throwing a match, Zhao was among the 10 Chinese players banned last year.He confessed to being aware of another player fixing matches in March 2022 and placed bets on snooker between September 2019 and December 2022. Zhao received a 30-month suspension, which was reduced to 20 months owing to an early admission of guilt.Having triumphed in successive Q Tour events in Stockholm and Manchester since his return last month, where he also achieved a 147 break in each event, Zhao has clinched a spot in the qualifiers for the UK Championship – an event he won in 2021.”I think it has to be said Zhao Xintong was at the very lower end of those (10) bans,” Murphy said. “He was never accused of cheating, he was never accused of fixing any matches.”He did know about it without reporting it and of course that’s against the rules. He’s served his time.”The problem with Zhao Xintong is he’s really bloody good. It might be fair to say he’s done nothing in these 18 months but practice. He looks very, very sharp to me.”There’s been quite a lot of fanfare about his return, which I’ve not been 100 per cent sure about, but he was caught, he took his punishment on the chin and since then has done everything right.”There’s an element of rehabilitation, he’s done the crime and served his time and he’s back.”The snooker community is digesting the news that former Northern Ireland Open winner Mark King was handed a five-year ban for match-fixing just last week.However, Murphy believes the sport should be commended for its efforts to eradicate cheating.”I think one of the things that the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association) are to be praised for is that they do these things in full public view,” said the ex-world champ.He highlighted the transparency of the association: “Of course the hearings are private but the findings are always made public.”They never shy away from dealing with these incredibly difficult issues, because often you’re dealing with people that you’ve got a 10, 20, 30-year relationship with.”The most important thing here is the sport’s integrity. The public, when they watch sport, they have to believe what they’re watching is genuine and if there’s a sniff that it isn’t real, we have to stamp them out.”
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Author : News-Sports
Publish date : 2024-11-19 14:00:14
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