Dave Gilbert has opened up about how Zhao Xintong’s 20-month ban following 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 many fans on tour as a result of his entertaining playing, left Gilbert very disappointed.

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

“He’s an incredible player. He’s a lovely boy, 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 ready to fix matches, was he? Betting on matches he knew were bent. I don’t think it’s great, but we’ve all gotten mixed up and made mistakes.

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