Four-time world champion Mark Selby is saddened by the match-fixing scandal which is tarnishing snooker and wants corruption “stamped out” of the sport.
Ten Chinese players have been suspended from competing on the World Snooker Tour amid the biggest match-fixing probe in the green-baize game’s history.
Shockwaves were sent through the sport on Tuesday when former UK champion and reigning German Masters winner Zhao Xintong became the highest profile player to be temporarily banned just days before he was due to compete at the prestigious Masters.
READ MORE:
- Zhao Xintong Suspended As Total Sidelined In Match-Fixing Probe Rises To Ten
-
How Michael Smith's World Darts Championship Win Inspired Snooker Ace Mark Allen
The world No 9, still only 25, is one of the game’s brightest stars and has been heavily tipped as the future of the sport following his breakthrough season last term.
And that’s what has made this week’s damning revelations so tough to take for the sport’s faithful fans, especially given the timing ahead of snooker’s second biggest event starting on Sunday.
Former world champion Shaun Murphy recently called for any players found guilty of fixing to be banned for life and it is important to note the suspended players are yet to be charged.
Triple Masters winner Selby heralded the action taken so far by authorities in their bid to weed out any foul play. Selby was scheduled to face Zhao in the first round on the opening evening of the illustrious 16-man invitational event at the iconic Alexandra Palace.
He admitted: “It’s a really sad time for the sport and it’s not putting snooker in a great light. The authorities are doing everything they can to stamp it out of the game. They’re doing the right thing by suspending the players. They’ve obviously got the evidence on the players to suspend them.
“It’s a sad time for snooker at the moment with everything that’s going on. Hopefully it will get sorted out whichever way possible. It’s tough because you don’t want it in any sport, even more so in the sport you’re involved in yourself.
“We don’t want it in the sport and anybody who’s caught doing that needs to be punished. If the bans are a substantial time then hopefully that will stop people doing it. The players in question have their reasons, whatever those reasons are I don’t know. All I know is it’s a very sad state of affairs.”
The biggest bans for fixing are former world No 5 Stephen Lee, who was kicked out of the sport for 12 years after being found guilty of seven courts of fixing in 2013, and China’s Yu Delu’s ten-year-and-nine-month exiling five years later.
Fellow Chinese potters Yan Bingtao, Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning, Chang Bingyu, Chen Zifan and Zhang Jiankang have all been barred from competing or attending events over the past few weeks whilst the investigation runs its course.
And former ranking-event winner Liang Wenbo, who has reportedly retired from the sport, was banned on 27 October pending the results of a misconduct investigation — which was later confirmed to be part of the ongoing complex match-fixing probe. It was his second sanction of the year after being blackballed for four months following a domestic-related assault conviction, which meant he missed April’s World Championship qualifiers.
The shocking news of Zhao’s suspension threatens to overshadow next week’s Masters. The left-hander is expected to be replaced by world No 18 Hossein Vafaei in the same manner in which David Gilbert took 2021 champion Yan’s spot in the elite field.
But for Selby, he is fully focused on trying to capture a fourth Masters title and ending a decade-long drought at the major event.
“[Zhao’s suspension] hasn’t changed my mindset at all heading to the Masters,” stressed Selby. “I was preparing to go there to try and win one game at a time and that’s no different who I play. They’re all great players. You just have to go there, try your best and if it’s good enough great and if not you get ready for the next one.”
The tenacious 39-year-old will head to Ally Pally a year on from bravely opening up about his mental health battles. It was after his 6-1 quarter-final defeat to pal Barry Hawkins when he publicly revealed the full extent of his struggles. Selby's mother left home when he was young and his father tragically died when he was just 16, before he turned professional.
And Selby, who says Tyson Fury’s incredible turnaround from suffering with depression to regaining boxing’s WBC heavyweight title helped him during his own fight, has been lauded for speaking out about his troubles and has urged men in a similar situation to talk about their problems.
The world No 2 took time away from the baize and sought much-needed professional help. He ended a tough 2022 in style by winning a first ranking title for 19 months at the English Open last month.
'Jester from Leicester' Selby enjoyed a ten-day Christmas holiday in Dubai with wife Vikki and daughter Sofia ahead of a title tilt at Ally Pally.
“It was nice to have a break with Vikki and the little one. I’ve come back fresh and ready to go again,” said Selby.
“Going back to the Masters I definitely feel in a better place than what I was. I’m taking it one day at a time because you can easily slip back into it at any stage. I’m far from out of the woods.
“Last year the crowd was fantastic and it will be great to enjoy that. I didn’t get to enjoy that last year because of the state of mind I was in. It will be nice to go back this year and cherish the moment.
“I’m in a good place at the moment and long may it continue. It’s all about taking it one day at a time. If you have a good day then cherish it and wake up and see how the next day goes.”
