Once upon a time, snooker - a cousin of pool and billiards with roots in the British Raj - was a boutique, almost backwater, pastime. No longer. Its popularity has soared globally, particularly in China, and it may be included as a sport in the 2024 Olympics.
That means a lot of gamblers bet on snooker. It also means that match fixing is in the mix. Ten elite Chinese players are currently being investigated for throwing games to help somebody cash in some presumably large bets. So here we are: A digital boom in sports gambling - accompanied by bigger incentives for scamsters and crooks to corrupt games - means even something as quaint as snooker can be corrupted.