Jimmy White did not hide his disappointment when Chinese star Yan Bingtao broke an unwritten snooker rule at the 2022 World Championship. At the time, the Shangdong province native was only 22, but was facing then-defending world champion Mark Selby in the round of 16.
The match proved to be a tense and unpredictable affair that featured a 22nd frame that lasted 85 minutes and 22 seconds – the longest in Crucible history. There was a situation in the match when the Yan’s route to the brown was blocked by another ball.
After having multiple looks, he asked referee Rob Spencer to pick the cue ball up to clean it. White and his co-pundit Alan McManus believed he asked the official to clean the cue ball in the hope he may place it down in a slightly different position, giving him a better angle to pot the brown.
After the official refused, White accused Yan of trying a bit of gamesmanship to win the frame. While speaking on Eurosport, White said: “Bingtao has looked at this shot for over a minute and he’s not sure if he can pot it or not.
“He keeps getting down to pot it and then he asks Rob Spencer (the referee) whether he can clean the cue ball. Now that is an unwritten rule amongst professional snooker players.
“Fair play to Rob Spencer for saying, ‘No, I’m not going to clean the cue ball’ in this situation, because he could put that cue ball back slightly wrong and then Bingtao can have an easy shot at this brown. But as it turns out, he could pot the brown.
“It is something you don’t do. It might have been Bingtao being under pressure and thinking of anything to win, but you don’t do that in snooker.”
McManus agreed with White, but did appear to give the Chinese star the benefit of the doubt. The Scot said: “It is something you don’t do. It might have been Bingtao being under pressure and thinking of anything to win.
“But you don’t do that in snooker. We don’t know what was in Yan’s mind, as to how underhanded he was thinking. I don’t like seeing it, Mark Selby did not like seeing it and most of the players on tour would be the same.
“It’s not something we encourage. We actually encourage the opposite. The referee won’t be hoodwinked there anyway because Rob Spencer is a brilliant referee.
“Yan’s young and he’s not from these shores. Maybe someone could take him aside and say ‘You’ve tried to pull a fast one there. But in future don’t do that’.”
Yan went on to edge the Jester from Leicester 13-10 after a seemingly never-ending final session. It would not be his last controversial moment, as he is currently serving a ban after being involved in the snooker match-fixing scandal.
In 2023, Liang Wenbo and Li Hang were each given lifetime bans, but Bingtao was given a five-year-suspension. Initially, his punishment was supposed to be seven years and six months, but this was reduced to five as a result of his early admission and guilty plea.
He will not be allowed to compete professionally until December 11, 2027. Selby, meanwhile, is taking on Ben Woollaston in his opening round match at the Crucible this year.
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