Banned snooker star who conspired to fix British Open match now free to return

Bai Langning is free to make a return to professional snooker, just three years after being part of a match-fixing scandal which rocked the sport. Bai was just 20 years old when authorities handed him a suspension in December 2022.

The following month, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) charged him with "being concerned in fixing a match on the World Snooker Tour". The match concerned was a British Open qualifying round tie against Xhao Xintong, which took place in September 2022.

In June of the same year, the governing body confirmed Bai's suspension had been reduced from an initial four years, due to his guilty plea and "early admission". This means the ban officially ended on August 6 of this year. Now 23 years of age, he is free to return to action and rebuild his career.

Bai was one of five Chinese players handed a suspension in December 2022 in relation to the match-fixing scandal, amid claims he had planned to fix a British Open match.

Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo and Chang Bingyu were the other four suspended players, with Lu the only player in the world's top 50 at the time. Further suspensions were issued in the following months, with two players - Liang Wenbo and Li Hang - handed lifetime bans.

Bai is understood to have paid regularly towards financial sanctions following the ban, and WPBSA has confirmed to Express Sport that he is now free to play in tournaments outside China - where tournaments are organised by a different body, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association - subject to the WPBSA checking his standing with the CBSA. Bai's ban in China is understood to run until December 6th, 2026.

Bai, who turned pro as a teenager, has only played once at the British Open's main draw.

He reached the second round in the 2021 edition of the competition, beating Ashley Carty in the opening round before losing 3-1 to compatriot Pang Junxu.

The following year, Bai took part in qualifying but was beaten 4-1 by Zhao Xintong - another one of the 10 Chinese players handed a suspension as part of the investigation.

Zhao, who got as far as the second round of the British Open in 2022, would go on to win the World Championship in 2025 after serving a ban of his own.

This year's British Open is up and running, though Bai is not involved despite his ban ending. Zhao, however, is in the main draw after narrowly avoiding an upset against Ashley Hugill to set up a round of 64 meeting with Stuart Bingham.

Zhao, 28, won the world title after coming through qualifying as he too continues to rebuild his career following his ban.

"I know about the pressure, but it is very hard to control," he said, via TNT Sports. "So I have to learn from Ding [Junhui] and Ronnie [O'Sullivan] because they do it well and play well in the moment [when under pressure]."