Liu Hongyu (; born 21 April 2004) is a Chinese snooker player. He won the APBSF Asia-Pacific Championship on 1 May 2023 to qualify for the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

, on a two-year card, starting from the

2023–24 snooker season The 2023–24 snooker season is an ongoing professional snooker season with tournaments played between 26 June 2023 and 26 May 2024. Players The World Snooker Tour in the 2023–24 season initially involved 130 professional players, but drop ...

Early life

Liu is from

Taishan __NOTOC__ Taishan may refer to: *Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China * Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China *Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China ** G ...

in the

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province of China.

Career

At the 2022 Q School first event defeated Belgian Ben Mertens which included a break of 137. He also scored centuries in Q school against Alfie Lee, and a 134 against Andy Milliard.

2022–23 season

In February 2023 he lost in the quarter finals to eventual winner

Ma Hailong Ma Hailong (; born 4 September 2003) is a snooker player from China. In February 2023, he won the 2023 World Snooker Federation Championship, and with it earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour. Early life At the age of thirteen, Ma ...

at the WSF Championship in Sydney, Australia. During the tournament he had impressed with his high scoring, including breaks of 138 and 133. In April 2023 Liu lost in the final of the first CBSA

qualifying tournament to

Jiang Jun Jiang may refer to: * ''Jiang'' (rank), rank held by general officers in the military of China *Jiang (surname), several Chinese surnames **Jiang Zemin (1926–2022), as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party *Jiang River, an ancient riv ...

. The following month he won the Asia-Pacific Championship with a 6-1 win in the final against Yuchen Wang to be the APBSF Asia Pacific qualifier on to the World Snooker Tour for the 2023-24 snooker season, on a two-year card.

2023–24 season

He started the 2023-24 season with the 2023 Championship League held at the

Morningside Arena The Leicester Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the Morningside Arena Leicester, is a multi-purpose built sports arena located in Leicester, England. The arena has a seating capacity for 3,000 spectators. The arena's main tenants are the ...

in Leicester, England from 26 June 2023. With victories over

Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...

David Lilley David William Lilley (born 31 October 1977 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who usually plays at centre back but has also played at right back. Lilley was most recently the manager of Bellshill Athl ...

and

Peng Yisong Peng Yisong (, born 13 November 2001) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Peng turned professional in 2022 having earned his place through the CBSA China Tour and gained a two-year tour card for the 2022–23 The dash is a punctuat ...

, Liu topped his group at the Championship League on his tour debut. In the second stage round-robin, he lost to

Noppon Saengkham Noppon Saengkham (; born 15 July 1992) is a Thai professional snooker player. Career Early years In April 2009, Saengkham lost in the final of the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 1–5 to Zhang Anda. He went one better at the 2009 IBS ...

before beating

Ashley Carty Ashley Carty (born 17 July 1995) is a former professional snooker player based in Thurcroft, Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then ...

and drawing with Daniel Wells to finish as runner-up in the group to Saengkham. He earned another professional win on 17 August 2023, at the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

qualifying in Leicester, with a 4-1 win over Baipat Siripaporn. He qualified for the

2023 European Masters The 2023 European Masters (officially the 2023 BetVictor European Masters) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 to 27 August 2023 at the in Nuremberg, Germany, the first time that the main stage of a professional ranki ...

, held in Germany, but had to pull out of the event when an issue with his visa prevented his travel. In October 2023, at the

English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

, he came from 3-1 down to defeat former World Champion

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

4-3. He followed this up with credible wins over ranking event finalist Joe O'Connor and former snooker shoot-out winner

Chris Wakelin Chris Wakelin (born 16 March 1992) is an English professional snooker player from Rugby, Warwickshire. He practices in Bar 8 in Rugby. Career Early career Wakelin started playing snooker aged 8, when his parents Mark and Angie bought him his ...

before defeating another former world champion Mark Williams to reach his first ranking event quarter-final. He then triumphed over compatriot

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 (200 ...

to reach his first ranking semi-final, before losing to

Zhang Anda Zhang Anda (born 25 December 1991) is a Chinese professional snooker player, who made his debut on the Main Tour for the 2009–10 season. He qualified by winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship. Standing at 5 ft. 3 in. tall, h ...

by 2-6. In December 2023, he recorded a second win of the season over Shaun Murphy, winning 4-1 at the Scottish Open. He qualified for the

2024 German Masters The 2024 German Masters (officially the 2024 BetVictor German Masters) is an upcoming professional snooker tournament that is scheduled to take place from 29 January to 4 February 2024 at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany. The 18th edition of t ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

with a 5-0 whitewash over the experienced

Dominic Dale Dominic Dale (born Christopher Dale on 29 December 1971) is a Welsh professional snooker player and snooker commentator and presenter for the BBC and Eurosport. Career Dale was born in Coventry, England. He won the Welsh Amateur Championship, ...

Performance and rankings timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Hongyu Living people 2004 births Chinese snooker players 21st-century Chinese people People from Taishan, Guangdong