Shaun Murphy on why snooker players caught match-fixing should be banned for life

Yan Bingtao became the seventh player after Liang Wenbo, Lu Ning, Li Hang, Bai Langning, Zhao Jianbo and Chang Bingyu to be suspended in the latest investigation to rock the sport although no player has been charged yet.

Former world champion Murphy was asked about the scandal during this week's English Open and is firmly of the mind that anyone found guilty must face the harshest penalty.

He told The Sportsman: "Specifically for players who are found guilty of match fixing, they should never compete on the professional tour ever again. A complete life ban – from professional and amateur snooker.

"Their existence in the snooker world should be terminated. So strong is my feeling on it, it’s part of the reason, a multi-faceted reason, it’s part of why I resigned from WPBSA board many, many years ago.

"You know, I knew too much about what was going on with certain players who were under disciplinary inquiries. As a board director I was privy to information that the media and the public aren’t.

"For me it will be completely black and white. I know the world has gone greyer over the years, we have gone from an old fashioned black and white view of the world to quite an opaque one, often for the better.

"But I think cheating is one area where we should be a bit more black and white."

Murphy is back in action on Wednesday but on Tuesday, defending champion Neil Robertson reached the last 32 after beating Lei Peifan.

The 40-year-old won 4-3 despite Peifan hitting three straight centuries to force a decider on Tuesday.

Robertson had raced into a 3-0 lead but Peifan made it 3-3 with breaks of 136, 134 and 121 only for Robertson to take the seventh frame with a crucial break of 67.

Robertson is joined by Judd Trump, who beat Craig Steadman 4-1, and Mark Selby after his 4-2 win over Joe O’Connor.

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UK Championship winner Mark Allen beat Dylan Emery 4-1.

Ali Carter beat Chen Zifan 4-0, Ding Junhui won his second-round match against Xu Si 4-1 and John Higgins eased past Mark King 4-1.

Marco Fu, the 2008 UK Championship runner up, reached the last 64 by beating Jimmy Robertson 4-1 having spent two years without playing between February 2020 and April 2022 amid the Covid pandemic and surgery on his eyes.

“It’s nice to be back competing and playing to a decent standard. I have missed so many tournaments over the last few years,” he told wst.tv.

“I enjoy being around the other players, they are like a snooker family. But when the trips are too long, it is difficult mentally, I don’t feel healthy.

“The last time I came to the UK I needed to stay for three months because of the quarantine policy in Hong Kong.”

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