There’s a simple reason we’re all here today: love. We love the snook, we love the Cruce, we love the cliches and we love all the little bits and pieces. How is it, say, that on every day of every tournament, the incomparably knowledgeable Crucible audience also comprises the most mirthful people in the world? Does Rob Walker go on like that all the time, even, er, to Mrs Walker? Will Hazel manage to make anyone cry in interview?
So when someone threatens all of that – and much as we’d prefer not to – we’re well within our rights to feel a way about them. And that, I’m afraid, is the case with Zhao Xintong, poised to become China’s first world champion but also recently returned from a 20-month banfor his involvement in match-fixing.
On the face of things, it’s not easy to reconcile. If we consider how much we love snooker, imagine how much Zhao loves it – the love it takes to work hard enough to become one of the best players in the world, winner of a triple crown event at 24; to hone a flowing, thrilling, unique style suffused with joy; to see your life change for the better because of it. How could anyone risk all of that – while risking the essential integrity of our sport – for a few quid?
To understand how what happened could happen, we need to take ourselves back to the pandemic. Zhao, like all but one of the accused, was living in Sheffield; he was young, a long way from home; and then lockdown happened. During this period, Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, now banned for life, used their influence as respected elders to prevail upon younger players – who were isolated, homesick and in some cases short of money – to fall in with their plan to make money through betting. They were all caught, and here we are.
No one wants to be talking about this today. To watch Zhao play is to celebrate the game itself; he is its present and its future, armed with all the qualities he needs to share it with new people and places, while rejuvenating old ones. If he wins this final, thatwillhappen.
We could, of course, say he was old enough to know better and that he’s lucky to be back playing; we’d probably be right. But we could also look back to our own youth, consider all the stupid stuff we did, and through the complex but essential process of forgiving ourselves, grant others the same clemency. We can’t ignore what went on, but we can be sure Zhao will carry the shame and regret for as long as he’s around, decide that’s punishment enough, and be happy that he’s been offered another opportunity to glorify the thing that brought us all here to begin with. Because having considered how much he loved snooker before, can we even imagine how much he loves it now?
Start: 1pm BST