Chang Bingyu (; born 8 August 2002) is a Chinese professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player. Chang is one of ten Chinese players currently suspended from the professional tour amid a match-fixing investigation. In January 2023, the WPBSA charged him with fixing a match. Following his suspension, Chang posted a message on

Weibo Weibo may refer to: * Microblogging in China, or China-based microblogging services (), including: ** NetEase Weibo (), launched by NetEase ** People's Weibo (), launched by ''People's Daily'' ** Phoenix Weibo (), launched by Phoenix Television ** W ...

, alleging that he had been threatened by his compatriot

Liang Wenbo Liang Wenbo (; born 25 March 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player based at the Oracle Snooker Club, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Liang, who plays left-handed, has reached one Triple Crown final, made three Masters appearances, and ...

, who also faces match-fixing charges.

Career

Early career

Chang Bingyu first started to play snooker aged 6. At the age of 10, he had his first maximum 147 break in practice. His father, Chang Xudong, sold the family house and quit his job as an engineer to help his son's career, and the pair practiced together. They moved to Guangdong, and Chang worked with British-born coach Roger Leighton at the Wiraka Academy. His first tournament 147 was in Guangzhou, aged 14. The video was widely circulated on social media. He also won a Junior tournament in Guangzhou, beating Duan Yanfeng 5–1. After victories at U14 and U16 level in Xi'an and Taishan, Chang concentrated on U18 and U21 tournaments. In 2017, Chang won the China Youth Championship in

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

, beating He Guoqiang 4–0. Later that year, Chang had his first significant result in a senior event on the Chinese tour. By beating experienced professionals

Mei Xiwen Mei Xiwen (;born October 8, 1982) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. Career Mei made his debut on the Main Tour in the 2009/2010 season, as the ACBS Asian nomination, playing his first match at the 2009 Grand Prix. He lost 5– ...

Ju Reti Ju Reti ( zh, t=居熱提; ug, بارى مەمتىلى, lat=Jür'et Abdurëhim; born 19 September 1983) is a former Chinese professional snooker player. Career Amateur 2012/2013 Ju, a farmer, from the Xinjiang region China of the Uyghur eth ...

and

Chen Feilong Chen Feilong (born 4 September 1982) is a former professional Chinese snooker player, playing on the World Snooker Tour from the 2018–19 season. Career He has been awarded a two-year professional tour card following his performances on the C ...

, he reached the final of the Baoying Open, narrowly losing 5–4 to

Cao Yupeng Cao Yupeng (; born 27 October 1990) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the 2011 Asian Under-21 Championship, thus qualifying for the professional main tour for the 2011–12 season. In his first season on the circuit, he reached ...

after recovering from 4-1 behind.

Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 ...

's former coach, Wu Wenzhong, said he thought Chang was ahead of Ding at the age of 15. The 7-times world champion

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

also attended the tournament and said Chang was even better than he was at that age. In 2018, Chang Bingyu won the IBSF World Snooker Championship, a leading amateur event. He beat He Guoqiang 8–3 in the final. Chang Bingyu also received wildcard invitations to the World Open (where he beat Jimmy Robertson), the Shanghai Masters, the China Championship (beating Robertson and

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998. Milkins ...

), the

International Championship The International Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. The reigning champion is Judd Trump. History The event was introduced in the 2012/2013 season. It was named as the "first overseas 'major'", because the tournament ha ...

and the China Open (where he beat

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). In 2019 Chang had finished at the top of the China amateur rankings, thus qualifying for the World Snooker tour for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. He moved to England with his father, where he was at first based at the Q House Academy in Darlington, and then later at the Victoria Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

2019/20 season

Chang Bingyu's first match as a professional was a 4–2 win over Ian Burns in a Riga Masters qualifier. Unfortunately, a visa issue meant that he was unable to travel to Riga to participate in the main event. Chang's best win of the season was against

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and directe ...

in the World Open. He produced a 120 total clearance in the

Shoot Out A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

, which commentator

Neal Foulds Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Blac ...

said reminded him of Mark Williams. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the season was suspended, and Chang returned to China. He decided not to return when the season resumed, and missed the

2020 World Snooker Championship The 2020 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2020 Betfred World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 31 July to 16 August 2020 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was th ...

. He finished the season ranked 103.

2020/21 season

Chang began his second season needing some good results to retain his tour card. His best results came in the two most important tournaments. He reached the third round of the

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...

, beating

Sam Craigie Sam Craigie (born 29 December 1993) is an English professional snooker player from Newcastle. He enjoyed a successful junior career before turning professional in 2011. Career Early career Craigie qualified for the 2011/2012 Main Tour after ...

and

Mark Allen Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

before narrowly losing to

Zhou Yuelong Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. Career Between ...

6–5. In the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

he beat Julien Leclercq and

before losing a high-quality 'Judgement Day' encounter with

Lyu Haotian Lyu Haotian (, born 29 November 1997) is a snooker player from the People's Republic of China, notable for being one of the youngest snooker players to have played in professional tournaments, aged only 14. He reached the quarter-finals of the ...

10–6, a match which contained 5 century breaks. Chang Bingyu finished the season ranked 69, but his position on the 1-year list meant he qualified for a new 2-year tour card. After the season, rather than returning to China, Chang chose to stay in Sheffield to work on his game.

Personal life

When in the UK, Chang Bingyu lives in Sheffield and practices at the Victoria Snooker Academy.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Pro-am finals: 1

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

Chang Bingyu
at ''worldsnooker.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bingyu, Chang 2002 births Living people Chinese snooker players Sportspeople from Qinghai People from Haixi 21st-century Chinese people