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ZHAO XINTONG is one win away from reaching the UK Championship last 32 – two months after his corruption ban ended.
The amateur cueist, 27, eliminated Noppon Saengkham from Thailand 6-2 in the third round of qualifying in Leicester, hitting a high break of 127 in frame five.
GettyShould he beat Englishman and World No.38 World Ricky Walden on Thursday in the final round of qualifiers, Xintong will face a seed in round five as the tournament is shown live on the BBC.
Xintong – the 2021 UK Champion – was one of ten Chinese players charged and banned for breaching match-fixing rules in June 2023.
He was given a 20-month suspension, which ended in September, though he did NOT fix a match himself.
Shaun Murphy – a former world snooker champion – said: “It has to be said that Zhao Xintong was at the very lower end of those bans.
“He was never accused of cheating. He was never accused of fixing any matches.
“He did know about it and of course that’s against the rules – he did not report it.
“Zhao Xintong is bloody good. He made 147s in back-to-back events and then opened his first qualifying match this week with a 146.
“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 around him, around his return, which I’ve not been 100 per cent sure about.
“But he was caught, he took his punishment on the chin, he admitted it straightaway, he paid all his fines, 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.”
Steve Davis also gave his verdict over his comeback.
He told SunSport: “It’s a bit like when people get accused of being a drug cheat.
“And all they have done is take social drugs. They weren’t trying to cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs.
“Zhao Xintong only got 20 months. He was not involved in deliberate match-fixing. What happened was he was one of the players who was aware of it and had a bet.
“Judging that there are different tariffs, I think there’s a different perspective to be had on that.
“I’d say that everybody is allowed a second chance. In Zhao Xintong’s perspective, he has had a slap on the wrist and let’s see how he performs after that.
“I don’t have a problem with Stephen Lee coming back in the game. He was totally stupid with what he was doing. As is anyone that breaks the rules. But there are slightly different standards.
“The problem is, it’s a cloud that is hanging over him. Because it’s going to be called ‘match-fixing’. He has to deal with that.
“Whether he can pick up the pieces is down to him. Hopefully he does. It would be sad if it didn’t happen for him.”
Follow the final stages of the UK Snooker Championship across BBC TV, radio and online from Saturday November 23
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