Newly-crowned World Snooker Championship winner Zhao Xintong is still barred from playing in his home country of China due to his involvement in the sport's biggest match-fixing scandal. The 28-year-old made history by becoming the first Asian player to win the world championship after defeating Mark Williams 18-12 on Monday. Despite establishing himself as one of snooker's rising stars, Zhao won't be able to flaunt his newfound fame back in China as he remains banned from competing. It was in 2023 when Zhao, along with nine other Chinese players, were banned from the sport due to their involvement in the scandal. However, following an investigation that found Zhao had not personally fixed matches, he was given a 30-month ban, which was later reduced to 20 months after he pleaded guilty. The snooker star accepted charges of being involved in another player fixing two matches while he himself had placed bets on matches. Although his global ban ended in September 2024, allowing Zhao to start competing on the Q Tour, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) announced they had imposed a domestic ban of 30 months - the original punishment before it was reduced. The CBSA's ban will last until July 1, 2025, meaning the world champion is still forbidden from participating in events in his home country. When he returned to the sport last year, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) confirmed that Zhao's ongoing ban would only apply to events held in China. "The Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association has now confirmed that their sanction only applies to mainland China and that Zhao Xintong is permitted to play in events outside of China from the end of his WPBSA suspension," the statement read. "Zhao will have served the suspension imposed by the Independent Disciplinary Commission by 1st September 2024, and he has paid his costs order. This means that he is eligible to play in WPBSA-governed events from 2nd September 2024." Following his triumph against Williams, the iconic Welsh player was quick to offer high praise for Zhao's performance, suggesting a great impact on snooker's landscape: "Zhao winning it could be huge for the sport," noted the snooker veteran. "It could end up opening floodgates everywhere. "I've got nothing but admiration for him, to do what he's done. He's been out for two years, bashed everyone up in qualifying and come here and bashed everyone up in the main tournament. It's an unbelievable achievement. There's not enough good words to say about him. Everyone has got to get behind him and just watch him. "He could dominate or at least give [Judd] Trump and Kyren [Wilson] a go. Snooker needed someone like him to come through, like what happened with Luke Littler in darts. His style is so effortless and his cue power."