Snooker match fixing: guilty Chinese stars reveal Liang Wenbo hush money and plots to lose to women players Ng and Mink
- Four of the 10 players made £30,000 from one match, as verdict outlines the match-fixing plans that succeeded – and others that were bungled
- The now banned Chinese stars fixed scorelines of numerous matches, before money problems and disagreements complicated matters
Telephone records and players’ admissions at their hearing in April showed the shocking extent of betrayal of their fellow professionals – and how their schemes unravelled.
One occasion last August encapsulated the interactions of the 10, several of whom owed each other money or favours when fixing was arranged. Lu Ning, the panel heard, was watching Zhao Jianbo lose to Aaron Hill online when he felt the match looked rigged. After he rang Li Hang to ask, Liang Wenbo paid “hush” money in cash to Lu – who handed it straight to Zhao, to whom he was in debt. Zhao was 18 years old at the time.
The fixed match generated £30,000 (then US$35,500). Li and Liang – the orchestrators, now banned for life – took £5,000 each, with £9,000 going to a friend of Liang, £8,000 to Zhao and £3,000 to Lu.
Players were found to have plotted to rig scorelines by deliberately conceding frames against the women, who rarely beat the men. The women – who were not involved in fixing in any way – included Ng, and Mink Nutcharut, then the women’s world champion and No 1.
Two of the three matches Chen Zifan fixed or plotted to fix, earning a five-year ban, were against Mink and Ng. Chen and Li admitted fixing the score against Mink by Chen losing a frame.
Li said he later received 10,000 yuan (then US$1,500), but – after signs Liang was being investigated – Chen was not paid. It was not the only time Chen missed out on a payday arranged by Liang.
They agreed the same tactic against Ng in Wigan last August, but on the morning, Li texted Chen: “Your handicap is not set yet. Let her win a frame after you lead 3-0. We will bet if we can. If there’s no 3-0 lead, forget about it, OK?”
After agreeing, Chen texted: “Let’s forget about it this time. I will play fair. Maybe next time.”
Other botched fixes exposed rifts. Chen was promised £5-6,000 for fixing a European Masters qualifier, only for the plan to be abandoned. Li admitted to Chen via WeChat: “Normally I would have to give you half, but [Liang] owes me a lot of money and still hasn’t given it back.”
By the British Open last September, Li and Liang were separately urging Bai Langning to rig a scoreline against Zhao Xintong – Li preferring to do it “safely” and Liang for maximum profit. Liang agreed a 60,000 yuan fee with Bai and paid half in advance.
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Li, concerned about betting patterns, told Bai in a voice message he should abort Liang’s plan: “Make it clear to Tong [Zhao] you were framed. Liang bought that game … you confessed to me. That’s why I gave you the idea that you make it to two or you will be banned.
“You make it clear to Tong and he will understand what it means … Just tell Tong this: you don’t need to win this game. If the score is 3-0 or 3-1, you must make it to two and you should be fine. Then you give up the game spontaneously.”
He reiterated: “You need to settle with Tong so you can make it to two.” It finished 4-1 to Zhao, and Bai repaid the money.
There was more to another 4-1 scoreline in that tournament than met the eye. Chang Bingyu, 20, later told investigators he fixed his loss to Jamie Jones in exchange for 50,000 yuan, offered during a phone call from Liang that morning but never received.
It was found that Chang had less than £100 in his bank account when he was interviewed in December. In a subsequent Weibo post, later deleted, Chang said he complied out of fear after Liang told him he had “placed a lot of money” and “asked me to lose 4-1”.
When Bai, also 20, was interviewed, he had debts of £15,000. The 60,000 yuan offered by Liang could have wiped out half of it.
Some players, not accused in the case, rebuffed Liang. Last August, Cao Yupeng – back on the circuit after serving a ban for fixing – declined to fix scorelines.
The stakes were rising. In September, Xu Si rejected a 50,000 yuan offer from Liang to lose by a set margin to Judd Trump, before, in October, an increasingly desperate Liang again approached Cao on WhatsApp to discuss his match that day.
Cao’s wife, who was holding his phone, angrily told Liang not to contact Cao again. Two weeks later, Liang was suspended and the edifice collapsed.
