A CHINESE snooker player who was involved in last year’s match-fixing storm will compete in UK Championship qualifying this month.

Zhao Xintong has the chance to scoop the £250,000 top prize after being announced as one of 16 elite amateurs to take part in the early rounds of the second-biggest event on the professional snooker calendar.

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Qualifying rounds take place in Leicester between November 16-21 and then the top 16 progress to the York Barbican where they could face the likes of reigning world champion Kyren Wilson, world No.1 Judd Trump and the sport’s greatest player, Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Should Xintong – winner of the UK Championship crown in 2021 – progress through four rounds of qualifiers at the Mattioli Arena, he will appear in the latter stages on BBC TV later this month.

Yet even though he has earned his spot by merit – he was triumphant in event three on the WPBSA Q Tour Europe – his involvement in such a prestigious tournament is a controversial one.

In June 2023, Xintong was one of ten Chinese players charged with match-fixing offences by an independent World Professional Billiards and Snooker association (WPBSA) disciplinary commission.

He was given a two-year and six-month suspension and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.

This ban was reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty to one year and eight months – and that ban expired on September 2, 2024.

None of the other nine disgraced stars have served the full length of their suspensions.

According to the disciplinary commission, the former top-10 player accepted in March 2022 that “he was a party to another player fixing two snooker matches”.

And between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022, “he bet on snooker matches in breach of the rules”.

Xintong, 27, is no longer on the World Snooker Tour but has the chance to regain a Tour Card in Qualifying School in the summer of 2025.

Lifetime bans were slapped on ringleaders Liang Wenbo and Li Hang.

Xintong’s involvement in the investigation last year shocked many within the sport, especially given that he is someone well-respected for his talents.

O’Sullivan, the seven-time world champion, once tipped the cueist nicknamed the Cyclone for his rapid style of play to go on and become the “best player in the world”.

Speaking after Xintong crushed Luca Brecel 10-5 to lift the UK title three years ago, the Rocket said: “If he can stand up and show pressure, there is no player on the circuit that has the complete game like him.

“He is like Steve Davis but with Jimmy White’s talent. Very, very scary.”

James missed Wales’ opening Nations League games with Turkey and Montenegro in September and the trip to Iceland and home return against Montenegro last month with a hamstring injury.

He made his return for Leeds on 18 October and has started the Championship side’s past two fixtures, scoring in the 3-0 win over Plymouth last Saturday.

James’ Leeds team-mate Joe Rodon will earn his 50th cap for Wales if the defender plays in both games this month.

Colwill’s recall to the senior squad comes as he has been receiving rave reviews during Cardiff’s revival under interim boss Omer Riza this season.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder – who featured in the 2022 World Cup – was not initially in Bellamy’s first Wales squad in September but was promoted from the under-21s as a late call-up.

However, he did not get any game time and reverted to Matty Jones’ under-21 squad for last month’s unsuccessful Euro 2025 qualifying climax.

Wales’ squad also includes Harry Wilson, who scored twice in stoppage time on Monday night as Fulham beat Brentford 2-1.

It was only a sixth appearance in the Premier League this season for 27-year-old Wilson – all as a substitute – as Bellamy has had to cope with a lack of domestic playing time for a number of his squad.

The former Wales captain has raised expectations with his unbeaten start as head coach following the sacking of Robert Page in the summer.

After a goalless draw at home to Turkey in the first game, he has enjoyed home and away wins against Montenegro and a 2-2 draw in Iceland.

While Bellamy’s side travel to Turkey with the prospect of winning the group still in their own hands, defeat would not end their hopes of a return to Nations League A division.

There is also a play-off route to promotion if they finish as runners-up, while finishing third would open up the prospect of a March play-off to avoid relegation.

FULHAM stars repeatedly slapped the head of a pitch-invading fan in wild celebrations after their incredible comeback win over Brentford.

The Cottagers were 1-0 down in their west London derby with just minutes remaining when Harry Wilson netted an extraordinary 92nd minute equaliser.

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Brentford were left shellshocked by Fulham’s late effort.

But the Bees were stung again when Wilson pounced with a 97th minute header to seal a 2-1 victory.

The Welshman’s brilliant brace sparked jubilant celebrations among the Craven Cottage faithful.

And one supporter got carried away as he left the stands for the pitch.

The fan immediately ran to Wilson before hugging him in delight.

Rodrigo Muniz and Tom Cairney also joined in the celebrations.

And the group toasted Wilson’s winner by hilariously repeatedly slapped the fan on the head.

The supporter appeared to love it though as he continued roaring with joy.

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But his party with the players was short-lived as security intervened.

They surrounded the man as Fulham’s stars broke away.

And he was quickly escorted back off the pitch to continue the fun elsewhere.

The win saw Fulham move up to ninth in the table, putting them two points ahead of 12th-place Brentford.

Formula 1 race winner Robert Kubica is looking increasingly certain to remain with the AF Corse customer Hypercar team in the World Endurance Championship next year.

Kubica told Motorsport.com that he “didn’t come here for just one year” when questioned after last weekend’s 2024 WEC finale in Bahrain about whether he would race the yellow-liveried Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar again.

But he stressed that “there is a lot of work to do” for next year at a team that claimed victory at Austin in September but failed to consistently match the factory arm of the AF team over the season.

“It is not an easy decision, so we will see,” he said.

Kubica, who partnered Ferrari factory drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman in AF’s satellite entry in 2024, had discussions with team boss Amato Ferrari over the course of the WEC finale in Bahrain last weekend.

Ferrari explained that he was hopeful that Kubica will remain with the team next year.

“Everything is positive and we all want Robert back, but no deal is done,” he said.

Antonello Coletta, Ferrari’s head of sportscar racing, also expressed hopes that Kubica will stay, saying “Our dream is to maintain Robert with us”.

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson, Yifei Ye

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Kubica remained with AF at the Bahrain International Circuit on the day after the WEC race for Phil Hanson’s first test in the Ferrari he will race in the WEC next year.

The Briton, who is swapping over from the British Jota customer Porsche team when it becomes Cadillac’s factory WEC squad, is the first driver to be announced for the #83 AF entry for next year.

Shwartzman is leaving Ferrari at the end of this year, Coletta confirmed.

He explained that the 25-year-old will depart both the line-up at AF and Ferrari’s roster of factory drivers after he “decided to make another choice”.

Shwartzman, who has been a Ferrari Formula 1 reserve since 2023 after graduating from the Italian manufacturer’s academy programme, will be announced as the team-mate of the already confirmed Callum Ilott at Prema’s new IndyCar team imminently.

Ye, who became a factory Ferrari driver for this season, is expected to remain in the line-up of the #83 car.

Neymar has played down concerns after picking up a fresh injury in his second appearance for Al-Hilal following a year out.

The 32-year-old Brazil striker was substituted 86 minutes into the Saudi Arabian club’s 3-0 win against Iranian side Esteghlal in the Asian Champions League Elite on Monday.

“It felt like a cramp, only very strong. I’m going to have some tests and I hope it’s nothing too serious,” the Brazilian said on Instagram.

“It’s normal for this to happen after a year. The doctors had already warned me, so I have to be careful and play more minutes.”

Neymar had a prolonged spell on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during Brazil’s World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in October 2023.

He has played only seven matches for Al-Hilal since his move from Paris St-Germain in August 2023.

Celtic showed a refreshingly different side to their personality away to Atalanta last time out. Before that game, fans might have been minded to offer up prayers in the hope that the damage inflicted on them would be modest.

What they got was a disciplined performance, a terrific defensive effort which had its foundations in excellent goalkeeping from Kasper Schmeichel. They rode their luck at times and were thankful for some errant finishing from the Italians, but what they delivered was pragmatic and mature.

Rodgers said he would never move away from his coaching beliefs, but he shifted slightly in Italy and the team was much better for it. The naivety and vulnerability of the 7-1 in Dortmund had gone. Instead, there was realism, concentration and a hunger to stay in the fight.

More of the same, then. Another draw would be a good outcome. That would take Celtic to five points with very winnable home games against Bruges – 26th in the table – and Young Boys – 35th of 36 – to come.

A point against Leipzig and six against the other two, and Celtic are home-free and in the play-offs.

From Leipzig’s perspective, however, this is surely a must-win. They have zero points after a brutal run of games and after Celtic they have Inter, who are sitting seventh, Aston Villa, who are top, and Sporting, who are eighth. After that they have a gimme against Sturm Graz, but three points might be useless at that stage.

They won’t lack class and they won’t lack desperation, either. As a club, they are an extraordinary outfit. In the last six years they have bought in more than a half a billion in revenues from player trading alone. Celtic have a fine track record on that front, but Leipzig are in a league of their own.

Naby Keita to Liverpool, Timo Werner to Chelsea, Dayot Upamecano to Bayern Munich, Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea, Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool, Josko Gvardiol to Man City, Dani Olmo to Barcelona. They’ve done 15 different deals ranging from £10m to nearly £80m. The Leipzig tills have been ringing relentlessly.

They might currently be sitting pointless and 11 places below Celtic in the Champions League table, but the nuance comes with the knowledge that it was Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Liverpool they lost to, all by a single goal.

They’re second in the Bundesliga and, until the weekend when they lost 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund, they were on an all-time club record run of 19 games unbeaten in the league. Nobody at Celtic will need any telling about Leipzig’s clear and present danger.

What Celtic do in the face of that danger is the compelling bit.