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Lyu Haotian

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Lyu (吕).
Lyu Haotian
Lyu at the Paul Hunter Classic in 2014
Born (1997-11-29) 29 November 1997 (age 27)
Tongzhou, Beijing, China
Sport country China
Professional2013–2015, 2017–present
Highest ranking24 (September 2019)
Current ranking 34 (as of 16 December 2024)
Century breaks105 (as of 15 December 2024)
Best ranking finishRunner-up (2019 Indian Open)
Medal record
Representing  China
Men's Nine-ball
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
Gold medal – first place 2017 Ashgabat Scotch doubles
Lyu Haotian
Simplified Chinese吕昊天
Traditional Chinese呂昊天
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǚ Hàotiān
IPA[lỳ xâʊtʰjɛ́n]

Lyu Haotian (Chinese: 吕昊天; born 29 November 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player, notable for being one of the youngest snooker players to have played in professional tournaments, aged only 14.[1] He reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 International Championship when he was aged 14, which is still the record in a ranking event.

Career

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Early career

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Lyu Haotian began playing when he was 10 years old and attracted the attention of local coach Pang Weiguo, himself a former professional player. After 8 months he made his first century break. On November 28, 2009, the day before his 11th birthday, he became China's youngest U18 champion by defeating Lyu Chenwei 4-2.[citation needed]

Lyu first broke onto the professional snooker scene as a wildcard in the 2012 Haikou World Open, losing 4–5 to Tom Ford in the wildcard round.[2] In his next tournament, the 2012 China Open, he lost again in the wildcard round 2–5 to Peter Ebdon.[3]

2012/2013 season

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At the start of the 2012/2013 season Lyu won his first ever competitive match in a professional tournament by beating Qiu Yalong 4–1 in the first Asian Players Tour Championship. He then narrowly lost 3–4 to Tom Ford in the last 64.[4] In the 2012 Shanghai Masters, at the age of 14, he became the youngest ever player to win a televised match by beating Marco Fu 5–4 in the wildcard round.[5] He then lost 2–5 to Mark Allen in the first round.[6]

At the 2012 International Championship in China he reached the quarter-finals with a 6–5 defeat of Dominic Dale of Wales in the last 16,[5] before losing 2–6 to former world champion Neil Robertson.[7] He thus became the youngest player ever to reach this stage of a ranking event.

Lyu followed up this result by winning the Chinese Youth Championship, beating Zhao Xintong 3-1 in the final. [8]

In February 2013, he reached the first round of the 2013 World Open beating professional player Simon Bedford 5–2 in the wildcard round before losing 0–5 to Mark Selby. Lyu also reached the first round of the 2013 China Open courtesy of the withdrawal of Mark Joyce in the wildcard round. He lost 2–5 to Mark Williams.[9]

In July, Lyu won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, beating the Mongolian Zhu Yinghui 9-6, to receive a two-year card for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons.[10]

Professional debut

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Lyu Haotian arrived in the UK as the youngest professional of the 2013-14 season, aged just 15. He stayed in Sheffield, playing at the STAR Academy. Lyu started his first season by beating Rod Lawler 5–2 to qualify for the Wuxi Classic where he faced Craig Steadman and won 5–3 to progress into the last 32.[11] He was then whitewashed 5–0 by Ali Carter in the subsequent round.[12] He also qualified for the Indian Open, but lost 4–1 to Thanawat Thirapongpaiboonin the first round.[11]

Two of Lyu's flatmates, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and Passakorn Suwannawat, were suspended following an investigation into match fixing at the International Championship. The two players returned to Thailand, but 4 days later their house was set on fire in an arson attack. Lyu Haotian was unharmed, but the trauma had a significant effect on the 15-year old as he struggled to adapt to life in the UK. He became withdrawn and demotivated.[13][14]

In October, Lyu reached the first final of his career at the minor-ranking Zhengzhou Open in his homeland. He beat the likes of 2006 world champion Graeme Dott and 2013 Shanghai Masters runner-up Xiao Guodong, before losing 4–0 to Liang Wenbo having been edged out of the opening two frames.[15] Lyu was narrowly beaten 6–5 by Marcus Campbell in the first round of the UK Championship despite leading 3–1 at the interval.[16] His final in Asia saw him qualify for the Players Tour Championship Finals for the first time and he lost 4–1 to Mark Williams in the opening round.[11]

Lyu ended his debut season on the main tour ranked world number 93.[17]

2014/2015 season

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At the UK Championship, Lyu defeated Cao Yupeng 6–4 before losing 6–1 to Marco Fu in the second round.[18] He qualified for the Indian Open thanks to a 4–2 win over Dominic Dale and, after coming through a wildcard match in New Delhi, he was eliminated 4–1 in the first round by Tian Pengfei. Overall, Lyu could not recapture his form of last season as he won just two matches in three Asian Tour events and none in five European Tour events which contributed to his relegation from the snooker tour at the end of the season as he finished it 81st in the world rankings.[18][19] In a subsequent interview he reflected he had been too young, and had become lonely and disoriented living in England without speaking much English.[14]

2015/2016 season

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After the disappointment of relegation from the main tour, Lyu stopped playing snooker for 6 months. His boyhood coach, Pang Weiguo, persuaded him that at 18 he still had a future in the game, and Lyu resumed 9-ball Pool and snooker. He played in the Haining Open, where he overcame Mike Dunn 4–2, Sanderson Lam 4–1 and Ma Bing 4–2, before losing 4–1 to Ricky Walden in the fourth round.

In December 2015 Lyu played in the Chinese Youth Tour, losing to Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals. [20]

In January, Lyu won the China City Snooker Club League singles title, beating Luo Honghao 5–0 in the final. [21]

He entered Q School, but failed to win enough games to rejoin the tour.[22]

2016/2017 season

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Lyu continued to achieve strong results in domestic snooker and 9-ball pool. On 12 January, Lyu made a maximum 147 break in a China City Snooker Club League match, playing for Zhejiang Jiaxing club. [23] [24]

Encouraged by Pang Weiguo, Lyu entered the 2017 Asian Championship, and on 28 April 2017 won the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship held in Doha, beating Pankaj Advani in the final 6–3.[25] As a result, he qualified for the 2017-18 tour.

2017/2018 season

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Lyu's first wins came in qualifying rounds for the European Masters and the Shanghai Masters. [26]

Lyu won a gold medal in the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, playing 9-ball pool scotch doubles with experienced partner Liu Haitao. [27] Lyu also played in six-reds events in Ashgabat and Bangkok.

Returning to snooker, he narrowly lost 4–3 in the second round of the European Masters to world champion Mark Selby.

In the Northern Ireland Open, Lyu produced the best result of his career to date. With wins against Joe Swail, Yuan Sijun, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Liam Highfield and Tian Pengfei he progressed to the semi-final, where he lost to fellow Chinese teenager Yan Bingtao 6–2.

In the UK Championship, a trio of wins against experienced players Anthony Hamilton, Peter Ebdon and Marco Fu took him to the last 16, where he lost to Mark Joyce 6–4.

Lyu started 2018 with a win in the qualifying tournament for the China Open, against in-form player Ryan Day 6–3. In the main event he progressed to the last 16 with wins over Liam Highfield and Fergal O'Brien before losing to the eventual winner, World Champion Mark Selby.

At the qualifying for the 2018 World Snooker Championship he beat Fang Xiongman 10–8, before playing Martin O'Donnell. He fell behind 5–9, before winning 5 straight frames to take the match 10–9. In the final round he continued his run by beating Rory McLeod 10–2, winning the last 9 frames, to qualify for the main event at the Crucible for the first time.

At the Crucible he was drawn against Marco Fu, who had not competed for 4 months due to eye surgery. Lyu won the match 10–5, scoring two century breaks, becoming the youngest player to win a match at the Crucible since Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1995. In the second round he faced Barry Hawkins. Despite trailing 4-0 and 8–3, he levelled the scores at 9-9, but ultimately lost 13–10.

Lyu finished the season with £94000 prize money, ranking him 30th on the one-year list, and 61st on the official two-year list, easily the highest of all players in the first year of a new 2-year tour card.[28]

Lyu Haotian was one of only two players (the other being Masters Champion Mark Allen) to reach the last-16 of the World Championship, UK Championship and China Open, the three most important ranking tournaments in the 2017–18 season.

2018/2019 season

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Lyu reached his second ranking semi-final in the China Championship, in Guangzhou in September, beating Joe Perry, Shaun Murphy and Martin O'Donnell, before losing 6–3 to John Higgins. After this, his form collapsed, losing 7 of his next 8 matches, his only win being against his practice partner Fan Zhengyi in the Scottish Open. However, at the Indian Open in March, he produced his best result to date, beating Zhou Yuelong, Luke Simmonds, Andy Hicks, Mark Davis and Anthony Hamilton to reach his first ranking final. However, after leading 3–2, he lost to Matthew Selt 5–3. The result lifted him into the top 32 in the rankings for the first time. In the World Championship, after rare a 10-0 demolition of Jordan Brown, he lost 10–8 to Mark Davis in the final qualifying round.

2019/2020 season

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Lyu's season was marred by technical issues, and some agonising losses. His best result came in the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, where he reached the semi-final, losing to his flatmate Zhou Yuelong. Towards the end of the season he had wins against Mark Williams (in the Championship League) and Mark Selby (in the Gibraltar Open).

In March, the snooker season was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Lyu Haotian returned to China. He returned to the UK for the World Championship, but lost 6-2 to Eden Sharav. He finished the season ranked 43.

2020/2021 season

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Lyu's form improved from the previous season. He reached the third round of the European Masters, only losing narrowly to Ding Junhui.[29] His best result came in the Scottish Open, in which he defeated Gary Wilson, Alan McManus, Akani Songsermsawad, before losing to the eventual champion Mark Selby.[30]

In the inaurgural WST Pro Series, Lyu Haotian qualified for the second stage, winning his first 6 mini-matches, including a 2–0 victory over reigning World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.

In the World Championship, Lyu beat fellow Chinese players Gao Yang and Chang Bingyu to qualify for the Crucible for a second time. However, his break-off shot in the first frame hit the blue, and his opponent Mark Allen cleared the table with a 139 break. This set the tone for the match, which was won by Allen 10–2. Lyu finished the season ranked 53.

2021/2022 season

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Lyu's results were again inconsistent. His best results were to reach the 3rd round on the Northern Ireland Open, beating Allister Carter and Mark King, and the 4th round of the Gibraltar Open, beating Allan Taylor, Ross Muir and Michael Georgiou.

In the World Championship Lyu Haotian had victories over Xu Si 6-4, Lu Ning 6-3 and Dominic Dale 10-4 to qualify for the main event at the Crucible Theatre for the third time. There he faced Stuart Bingham, but lost 10-5. Lyu finished the season ranked 45.

2022/2023 season

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Lyu had a strong start to the new season, reaching the last eight of the Championship League. He followed this up with a quarter-final at the 2022 British Open, and a run to the quarter-finals of the 2022 Northern Ireland Open, where he led 2-0 against Anthony McGill but went on to lose 5-3.

Lyu qualified for the 2022 UK Championship, where he lost 6-4 to Luca Brecel in the last 32. In the second half of the season, Lyu didn't have as much success in ranking events as he did at the beginning of the season. At the World Championship, he lost 10-8 to Mark Davis in the last 80, failing to qualify for the Crucible for the first time in three years.

Personal life

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Lyu Haotian lives in Sheffield where he practices at the Victoria Snooker Academy with Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao, Fan Zhengyi and several other players.

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24 		2024/
25
Ranking[31][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 93 [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 61 26 43 53 45 45 30
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR A 3R RR A
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 2R
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 4R
English Open Tournament Not Held A 2R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ 2R
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R QF 1R 3R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held SF LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A SF 1R 1R 1R 3R QF 2R 1R
International Championship NH QF LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ Not Held 3R 3R
UK Championship A A 1R 2R A A 4R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event A 2R 1R SF 4R 1R 1R 1R 2R
Scottish Open NH MR Not Held A 1R 2R 1R 4R LQ 1R 3R 1R
German Masters A A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ
Welsh Open A A 1R 1R A A 2R 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ
World Open WR 1R LQ Not Held A A 1R 1R Not Held 2R
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R 2R
Players Championship[nb 4] DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A LQ LQ A A 2R LQ LQ 1R 1R LQ 1R
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Ranking Event A 1R Not Held A 1R
Championship League A A A A A A A A RR A A RR A
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NR WR 2R LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A 1R LQ LQ A A 1R Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Indian Open Not Held 1R 1R NH A LQ F Tournament Not Held
China Open WR 1R LQ LQ A A 3R 3R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 5] Not Held Minor-Rank A LQ LQ 2R Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ SF 1R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A A A 4R 1R 4R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 3R Not Held
European Masters Tournament Not Held A 2R LQ 1R 3R LQ 1R QF NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship NH A A A A A RR A A Not Held LQ Not Held
Haining Open Not Held Minor-Rank 3R 4R A A NH A NH A NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c d He was an amateur
  3. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2011/2012–2015/2016)
  5. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

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Ranking finals: 1

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2019 Indian Open England Matthew Selt 3–5

Minor-ranking finals: 1

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1 2013 Zhengzhou Open China Liang Wenbo 0–4

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1 2012 World Under-21 Snooker Championship China Zhu Yinghui 9–6
Winner 2 2017 Asian Amateur Championship India Pankaj Advani 6–3

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Judd Trump to face Peter Ebdon in International Championship semis". BBC Sport. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Snooker Database - 2012 World Open". CueTracker. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Baidu Snooker Biography of Lyu Haotian". Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  4. ^ "Snooker Database - 2012 Asian PTC 1". CueTracker. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Snooker - Lu Haotian stuns Dale to reach International Championship quarters". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Snooker Database - 2012 Shanghai Masters". CueTracker. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Snooker Database - 2012 International Championship". CueTracker. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  8. ^ "2012 China Youth Championship".
  9. ^ "Lu Haotian 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  10. ^ "World Under 21 Snooker Championship 2012". International Billiards and Snooker Federation. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)(registration required)
  11. ^ a b c "Lu Haotian 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Hawkins, Ding beaten at Wuxi Classic". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  13. ^ "Shanghai Masters winner Ding Junhui warns that Chinese are set to dominate". The Times. 22 September 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Interview with Lyu Haotian". sina.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Wonderful Wenbo Wins In Zhengzhou". World Snooker. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  16. ^ "UK Snooker: Marcus Campbell hails 15-year-old Lyu Haotian". The Press. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  17. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  18. ^ a b "Lü Haotian 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  19. ^ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  20. ^ "Chinese Youth Tour Results 2015/2016". www.weixinnu.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  21. ^ "China City Snooker Club League Results 2015/2016". top147.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  22. ^ "Lü Haotian 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  23. ^ "China City Snooker Club League Results 2016/2017". cbsa.org. Retrieved 25 October 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ "China City Snooker Club League Results 2016/2017". top147.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  25. ^ "Lü Haotian ACBS Champion 2017". acbs.qa. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  26. ^ "Lyu Haotian Snooker Results 2017/2018". snooker.org. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  27. ^ "Ashgabat 2017 Results". ashgabat2017.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  28. ^ "Snooker Provisional Rankings". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  29. ^ "Ding Junhui v Lyu Haotian". es.betsapi.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  30. ^ "MARK SELBY - LYU HAOTIAN". www.eurosport.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  31. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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