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Assault fine threatens Liang Wenbo's snooker tour spot
NYSE - LSE
Assault fine threatens Liang Wenbo's snooker tour spot
Liang Wenbo's position on the world snooker tour is under review after the Chinese cueman was fined for assaulting a woman in the northern English city of Sheffield, officials said.
Former UK Championship runner-up Liang was fined a total of £1,380 ($1,808) and given a 12-month community order by a court on Friday for a "domestic-related assault", prosecutors said.
The 35-year-old, currently ranked 33rd in the world, had pleaded guilty to assault by beating at an earlier hearing after closed circuit television footage showed him hitting and kicking a woman in the street in a "sustained and deliberate" attack.
Liang is scheduled to compete in the qualifying rounds for this year's World Championship in Sheffield next week.
But a statement issued by the WPBSA, snooker's global governing body, called his status into question.
"Wenbo has clearly been charged and found guilty of a serious offence," it read. "We (the WPBSA) were not aware of this incident and are very disappointed to read of such matters.
"While we read that Wenbo has already been sentenced for this offence, we will now consider the position from our sport's disciplinary perspective. Again, we are extremely disappointed to read this news today."
Liang reached the UK final in 2015, losing to Australia's Neil Robertson, and won his lone ranking title at the English Open the following year.
L. Solowjow--BTZ
