Snooker player Thanawat charged with fixing games

Snooker player Thanawat charged with fixing games

Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon in action.
Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon in action.

Thai player Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon has been charged with fixing six snooker matches and suspended from all activity pending a formal hearing of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) disciplinary committee.

A statement from the WPBSA on Thursday said Thanawat, a former national team player, is facing a hearing for fixing the outcome of six World Snooker Tour matches between 2013 and 2015.

His case will be heard at a formal hearing of the Independent WPBSA Disciplinary Committee on a date and at a venue to be confirmed.

Thanawat has been charged under the "Betting Rules" of the "WPBSA Conduct Regulations" which bar a professional player from "fixing or contriving, or being a party to any effort to fix or contrive, the result, score, progress, conduct or any other aspect of the Tour and/or any Tournament or Match".

The WPBSA statement said the decision to suspend Thanawat from all competitions was taken by its chairman Jason Ferguson.

"This suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of the hearing or hearings and the determination of this matter. [Thanawat] Tirapongpaiboon is fully co-operating with the WPBSA," the statement added.

The 28-year-old Thai cueist, who fell off the tour in 2016, was set to regain his pro card this season after reaching the final of an Asian-Oceania qualifying school event held in June in Bangkok.

He beat compatriot Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-2 in the semi-finals.

Pakistan's Asjad Iqbal, the next in line on the Asia-Oceania Q School Order of Merit, has been offered Thanawat's place on the professional tour.

Thanawat announced himself on the international scene by claiming the 2011 world U21 crown in Montreal, Canada.

He later went onto win the Asian U21 title in 2014 and followed it up with the Asian 6-red crown four years later.

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