Japanese player banned for life

Japanese tennis player Junn Mitsuhashi has been banned for life following an investigation into match-fixing, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) announced yesterday.

He has also been fined US$50,000 (S$70,000) after being found to have made corrupt approaches to other players and to have placed bets on matches.

The ban applies with immediate affect and means Mitsuhashi, 27, cannot "compete in, or attend, any tournament or event organised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of the sport", the TIU said.

In November 2015, he asked Joshua Chetty, a player he had previously coached, to make a corrupt approach to a fellow player during an ITF Futures tournament in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The player was offered US$2,000 to underperform in a singles match and US$600 in a doubles match.

Chetty received a lifetime ban last September.

The following month, Mitsuhashi directly approached a different player at a tournament in Lagos, Nigeria to ask him to fix aspects of a match.

He also illegally placed 76 bets on tennis matches between October and November 2015 and refused to cooperate with the TIU investigation, both of which are separate offences.

Mitsuhashi achieved a career-high singles ranking of 295 in 2009.

He was ranked 1,997th at the time of his offences. 
- AFP