Jimmy White didn’t hold back when he saw what he believed was a blatant bit of gamesmanship from Yan Bingtao during the 2022 World Snooker Championship. The Chinese player, then just 22, was up against defending champion Mark Selby in what turned out to be a dramatic and tense last-16 encounter at the Crucible.
Things came to a head during an epic 22nd frame, which dragged on for a record-breaking 85 minutes and 22 seconds. At one point, with the brown ball awkwardly positioned and blocked by another ball, Yan spent over a minute eyeing up the shot before asking referee Rob Spencer to clean the cue ball. That’s when things got a bit heated in the commentary box.
White, alongside Alan McManus on Eurosport duty, didn’t mince his words. He was unimpressed, suggesting Yan might have been trying to gain an edge by hoping the referee would place the cue ball back in a slightly different position, just enough to improve the angle on the brown.
“Bingtao has looked at this shot for over a minute, and he’s not sure if he can pot it or not,” White said. “He keeps getting down to pot it, and then he asks Rob Spencer whether he can clean the cue ball. Now that is an unwritten rule amongst professional snooker players.”
He praised the referee for standing his ground. “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.”
White didn’t hold back on the implications either. “It might have been Bingtao being under pressure and thinking of anything to win, but you don’t do that in snooker.”
McManus agreed but gave Bingtao a bit more leeway, pointing out that the young player might not have fully grasped the unwritten etiquette of the game. “He’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.’”
Despite the controversy, Bingtao edged past Selby 13-10 after a gruelling final session, but his career has since taken a much darker turn. He’s currently serving a five-year suspension from professional snooker after admitting to involvement in a match-fixing scandal. Initially facing a ban of more than seven years, his punishment was reduced due to his guilty plea.
Yan won’t be eligible to return to the sport until December 11, 2027.
As for Selby, he’s back at the Crucible once again this year, kicking off his campaign against Ben Woollaston. But fans of the sport will remember that 2022 match for more than just its length — it was the moment a young star sparked outrage for bending the unspoken rules of the game.
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