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Dave Gilbert has opened up on how Zhao Xintong’s 20-month suspension after a match fixing investigation affected him.

Zhao, who begins his UK Championship campaign against Shaun Murphy this afternoon, was only allowed to return to snooker in September following his suspension.

And the Chinese potter, who still has plenty of fans on the tour as a result of his entertaining game, left Gilbert very disappointed.

“He was the one who broke my heart, being caught up in all that scandal,” the world number 22 told Metro.

“He is an incredible player. He’s a lovely lad, I don’t know the kid, but he was always smiling and happy. Beautiful player to watch, got all the shots, he was the star, he was the Chinese Ronnie!

“He wasn’t done for match-fixing was he? Betting on matches that he knew were bent. I don’t think it’s great, but we’ve all got mixed up and made mistakes.

“But I definitely feel like if people threw matches and have prospered from them, I don’t want to see them again, simple as that.”