A Chinese tennis player who competed in Hong Kong last year has been banned for 12 years and fined US$110,000 for a match-fixing spree involving 22 matches over a five-month period.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency said Pang Renlong had admitted to fixing five of his own matches in lower-level events and making “corrupt approaches” to players in 11 more matches, six of which were also fixed.
Officials said the match-fixing happened from May through September 2024. During that period, the 25-year-old played in various ITF tournaments in Turkey, Hong Kong and mainland China and lost in qualifying for one ATP Challenger event, the Jinan Open in China.
Pang played in the ITF Men’s 25 tournament in Causeway Bay in August 2024, losing 6-0, 6-2 to South Korea’s Shin Woo-bin, who was ranked 697th in the world at the time.
Officials did not list the fixed matches linked to Pang, whose career-high ranking was 1,316th last year. His suspension is expected to run through 2036, including time already spent under a provisional suspension. Of his US$110,000 fine, US$70,000 was suspended.
He is banned from playing in, coaching at or attending any event organized by major tennis bodies or national federations.