SNOOKER star Chang Bingyu has made a statement return to the baize after seeing out his suspension alongside World Snooker champion Zhao Xingtong.
Both Zhao and Chang were given lengthy bans for their roles in a match-fixing scandal that rocked the world of snooker.
Zhao Xintong bonced back from his ban by winning the World Snooker Championship[/caption]
Chang Bingyu, who was banned as part of the same match-fixing scandal, has returned to action with a statement win[/caption]
Zhao was handed a 20-month ban for his part in the scandal, which saw 10 Chinese players punished for their involvement.
But the 28-year-old, who was found to have not had any direct role in fixing the outcome of a match, bounced back from his ban in the most dramatic way possible by winning the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible earlier this year.
Now his compatriot, Chang, has racked up a statement win on his return to action after he was given a two-year suspension for his role in the scandal.
Chang, 22, admitted to deliberately losing to Jamie Jones at the 2022 British Open, claiming he “reluctantly” agreed to fix the match after a call from Liang Wenbo detailing an alleged large bet on Jones to win.
Chang was originally slapped with a three-year ban, but saw that suspension reduced to two years after he admitted to his wrongdoing.
Now the highly-thought of prospect potter has returned to action with a statement win, beating top player Daniel Wells 5-4 in a Wuhan Open qualifier.
Chang fought back from 4-1 down to beat Wells thanks to breaks of 84, 60 and 70 in Leicester.
The youngster will now face India’s Kreishh Gurbaxani on Thursday in his battle to qualify for the competition that takes place in August.
It’s not the first statement made by Chang since the end of his ban either.
The former world number 62 returned to action in December at the Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship, winning the tournament without showing any signs of his time away from the table.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins
