Stephen Hendry predicts snooker’s next first time major winner

Chang Bingyu’s early promise

Chang was a wildly talented junior player, winning the 2018 IBSF World Snooker Championship at just 16 years old, having made a maximum in tournament play at just 14.

He joined the professional tour in 2019 as a teenager, moving to Sheffield as a result, and he picked up some encouraging wins, but the global pandemic disrupted his progress as he returned to China and missed some events.

A run to the 2020 UK Championship last 32 was probably the highlight of his early pro career, before he was suspended in December 2022 as part of the match-fixing scandal.

Why was Chang Bingyu banned?

Chang admitted to fixing a match against Jamie Jones at the 2022 British Open, losing 4-1, but did so as a result of pressure and influence from Liang Wenbo, who subsequently received a lifetime ban.

The Disciplinary Commission’s findings read that Chang ‘accepted that he on 28th September 2022 had fixed a snooker match that he was playing in.’

He gave evidence to the commission that he was called by Liang Wenbo on the morning of the match ‘with a threatening tone’ and told that Liang ‘had placed a lot of money on his bet without my knowledge, for my match with Jamie Jones that evening.’

Chang ‘reluctantly agreed’ but said he never received the money he was told he would be given for the fix.

The independent tribunal’s findings on Chang read: ‘We have found that Chang fixed or contrived, or was a party to an effort to fix or contrive, the result or score of a snooker match on one occasion.

‘We note that, at the time that his match fixing took place, Chang was aged 20. He was young and impressionable and under the influence of Liang, of whom he was scared. Chang has given evidence that he thought Liang would take action against him if he did not comply with Liang’s demands. We accept that, in all probability, Chang would not have offended absent that element of threat. He was also suffering financial difficulties at the time, he has shown genuine remorse for his actions and he admitted his office at the earliest opportunity. There is no suggestion that Chang committed any betting offence.’

Chang was given a three-year ban in June 2023 for fixing a match, reduced to two years following early admissions and his plea of guilty, which kept him out of snooker until December 2024 – backdated to his original suspension.

Chang quickly won his place back on tour after being able to compete again, winning the Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship by beating Ryan Thomerson 6-1 in the final in April last year.

He has been very impressive since regaining his place on the professional circuit, with his best run so far this season coming at the Scottish Open in December were he reached the final.

He beat Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Mark Allen before losing to Chris Wakelin in his first final.

Speaking to World Snooker Tour about his return to the game, Chang explained the huge amount of practice he was putting in with his coach Li Jianbing back in China, before a move back to Sheffield.

‘I was based at Coach Li’s academy and the schedule was very structured, I would practise from 9am to around 8:30pm every day,’ he said. ‘Everything was very disciplined, and he really helped me get into good form. I’m now based at Ding Junhui’s academy in Sheffield and I still have long, focused practice sessions daily, around six to seven hours.’

He added that two of the brightest young talents in the game, Si Jiahui and Wu Yize, have been his rivals through their young careers and he intends to reach their level as quickly as possible.

‘Over the past two years, I have gained perspective,’ he said. ‘Now I approach matches with a much calmer mindset. My goal is to catch up with players like Wu Yize and Si Jiahui. We grew up playing each other together, and they’ve both made great strides so I’d like to follow their lead.

‘We’ve been close since we were kids. Seeing them succeed definitely motivates me to push harder.’