In snooker tournaments, those who reach the group of 16 or even 32 players can earn well, but after that the fees drop drastically, writes HS sports reporter Ismo Uusitupa.
Snooker for example, appears to television viewers as an elegant sport where the audience is restrained and the players are well-behaved. Well, sometimes a superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan confuses the pack with his antics, but also brings his own charm to the sport.
In addition, large monetary rewards are often presented. The sums are not at the level of the tennis grand slam tournaments, but at their best, the players get hundreds of thousands of pounds in prizes.
And then the bomb drops: several players have fallen into match-fixing. In snooker?
However, this is not a new issue. Those who have followed the sport longer remember, among other things Quinten Hanni, Joe Jogian and Stephen Lee. They have been found to have lost matches on purpose about ten years ago.
Now the ongoing wave of match-fixing is particularly affecting young Chinese players. The activities of no less than ten players in professional tournaments are being investigated.
Read more: Snooker’s match-fixing scandal swells: three players are suspected of luring other players into cheating
Why exactly are the Chinese players under suspicion? Snooker is a really big sport in China and therefore also a significant betting destination. That in turn attracts cheating.
The Chinese mainly play far away from their home country in Britain, language skills can be lacking and there have even been speculations about threats that would concern the players’ families. In that equation, small intentional punching errors can seem like the least evil.
On Saturday eyes were also on England, because the latest player to be shelved was no longer Chinese but English Mark King.
Read more: Snooker’s match-fixing scandal expands: now the top English player has been suspended
The same reasons as for the Chinese are no longer suitable as reasons. This is where fees come into play.
In snooker tournaments, those who reach 16 or even 32 players can make good money, but after that the rewards drop drastically.
For example, King was at his best in the ranking at number 11, now he is 57th. King has earned £77,000 (€87,000) this season, which is certainly a reasonable amount, but it pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of pounds the top players earn.
Going down the ranking list, the player ranked 100 has only received 14,000 pounds (about 16,000 euros) in bonus money.
In snooker it is difficult to spot cheating, because even top players sometimes make unexpected mistakes. Snooker is also an individual sport, so you don’t need team players to cheat.
The cases mainly come to light through atypical betting behavior. In other words, in some match, an extraordinary amount of bets have been placed for a player’s victory (in practice, the opponent’s defeat).
After the suspicion on King, a big question arises: who or who will be next?
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