Lines left with range of emotions after winning two matches proved to be fixed

Two players – Liang Wenbo and Li Hang – have been given lifetime bans as a result of the match-fixing investigation, with eight more receiving bans ranging from one year and eight months to five years and four months.

Lu Ning and Yan Bingtao are two players out of the game for the next five years and both were found guilty of fixing matches they played in against Lines.

Yan’s was the most recent, losing 5-4 to the Englishman in the last 16 of last year’s Turkish Masters, a victory which was one of the biggest of Lines’ career as it saw him reach his first ranking quarter-final.

More than anything, Lines could not believe that the game was fixed given the standard Yan was producing, as he made breaks of 119, 116, 87, 58 in the contest, while also playing on for some time while needing snookers in the decider.

There was certainly no inkling at the time that there was something dodgy going on, quite the opposite.

‘I wish I’d have known at the time that I was going to win that game!’ Lines told Metro.co.uk. ‘He made two tons, an 80-odd and another break, if I remember rightly. I felt like he didn’t really miss a ball in the whole game.

‘Now I know he wasn’t even trying in the first place! It didn’t look like he wasn’t trying. It was really weird when I found out, but that’s why they got away with it for so long, they’re obviously very skilled at doing it.

‘My friend who was with me in Turkey said it was one of the games of the tournament, neither of us were missing. It’s strange. I played well, I felt like I earned the victory anyway, despite what I know now. It’s a weird one.

‘You just don’t want your name associated with something like that.’

The other game Lines now knows was fixed was against Lu Ning at the 2014 Lisbon Open, which a teenage Oli won 4-2.

Unsurprisingly, nine years on Lines has little memory of the first round win in a minor event, but it is just how long ago it was that is now bothering him.

‘I remember vaguely beating him, but I didn’t even beat him, he just lost. I don’t really have any memories of the game or anything,’ he said.

‘It angers me that he threw a game in 2014 and it took till 2023 to get him off tour and found guilty. It angers me badly.

‘It’s frustrating, more than anything, that they’ve been getting away with it for so long, walking round pretending nothing’s happened. It pains me.’

‘People lower down the rankings, I don’t condone cheating ever, I find it disgusting, but you can see why they would if they’re struggling for money, struggling to live.

‘They might have thought there was no way out, I have a little bit of sympathy for someone like that, way more than someone like Yan who was earning big dough anyway, I’ve got no sympathy for him.’

Lines would be happy to see sterner punishments, echoing Shaun Murphy’s call for lifetime bans for anyone found guilty of fixing a match, although he does think the bans put in place will have the intended effect.

‘I think I agree with what Murphy said. Anyone found guilty of match-fixing should get a lifetime ban, but that’s not up to me,’ he said.

‘I do think these bans are a deterrent, though. I think in five years time there’s no guarantee Yan will be any good. He might never get back there, not to the level he was anyway.’

Lines himself is looking forward to getting back on the match table after a strong end to last season, which saw another quarter-final run, at the WST Classic, and a narrow 10-9 loss to Anthony Hamilton in World Championship qualifying.

‘Obviously when you lose a decider it’s heart-breaking, I played well against Hamilton but he’s absolutely quality, it was such a great game. I think I made eight breaks over 50 and got beat 10-9, which is crazy,’ he said.

‘When there’s someone on the other side who’s as good as that…it was a quality match, I took a lot away from it.’

Oli’s dad Peter has been a huge part of his career so far, but it was the influence of former professional, and family friend, Kuldesh Johal which helped with his good form in recent months.

‘Kully has been coming round with me to tournaments,’ Oli explained. ‘He’s been best mates with my dad forever, knows my game inside out and I like his company. We started three or four weeks before the WST Classic. Snooker can be a lonely sport sometimes, I think everyone needs someone they can go round with. Someone to take your mind off things, chill out, have a laugh.

‘I think my upturn in form towards the end of the season is down to him.

‘I’ve dedicated myself over the summer more than usual. I’m usually off on holiday with Judd and them lot, but I dedicated myself to practice so hopefully I can start the season how I finished the last one.’

MORE : Snooker’s match-fixing bans send a message but was it strong enough?

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