Liang Wenbo was handed a 12-month community order on Friday after pleading guilty to an assault of a woman in Sheffield.
Liang, a professional snooker player since 2005, was caught on CCTV footage punching, kicking, and dragging the woman last July.
Fortunate to get away without a custodial sentence, the 35 year-old was also fined a total of £1,380 for the incident.
Deputy chief crown prosecutor Jonathan Wettreich said: “Wenbo perpetrated a sustained and deliberate assault on the female victim, late at night, leaving her in great distress.”
“We will always pursue domestic abuse cases where our legal tests are met; this type of behaviour will not be tolerated, and the CPS treats such cases with the utmost seriousness.”
Further repercussions could be imminent with Liang’s place on the professional Main Tour now also in doubt.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association released a statement on Saturday announcing his immediate suspension.
The suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of the hearing, or hearings, when an outcome is determined.
WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said: “The decision to suspend a player with immediate effect is not one taken lightly.”
“However, due to the violent and criminal nature of this offence, I have reached the decision that this is the only appropriate action to be taken pending the outcome of the formal disciplinary process.”
The matter will be referred to the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee where a formal hearing will take place at a venue and date to be confirmed.
Many snooker fans had already called for Liang’s immediate suspension, with the 2022 World Snooker Championship qualifiers set to begin next week at the English Institute of Sport.
The Chinese competitor’s long-term future on the circuit now seems to be in jeopardy.
Since turning professional 17 years ago, Liang Wenbo has won one ranking event and reached a career-high of number 11 in the world in 2016.
After a period of bad form, he had appeared to turn his fortunes on the table around this year by making appearances in three tournament semi-finals.
Featured photo credit: WST
An absolute joke that he’s not serving a custodial sentence for such a vicious attack. I hope any crowd he plays in front of boo him.
I THINK ITS A JOKE HESNOT IN JAIL AND HIS CAREER IN SNOOKER SHOULD BE OVER HOPE THE WOMAN IS NOW ALL RIGHT
Has anyone ascertained as to why he attacked the Woman? She must have done or said something offensive, for him to resort to violence. For his sake i hope he is freed and allowed to continue to earn his living from Snooker.