Zhang Anda (born 25 December 1991) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

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, 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, he is nicknamed "Mighty Mouse". Zhang lives in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, during the snooker season and practises at the Victoria Snooker Academy.

Career

2009/2010 season

The 2009–10 season was Zhang's first professional season on the tour. His first match was a 2–5 defeat to

Craig Steadman Craig Steadman (born 14 July 1982) is an English professional snooker player. Career Early career Steadman began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. He reached the quarte ...

in the first qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters. His first wins came over

Ben Woollaston Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at the ...

(5–3) and Jin Long (5–2) during qualifying for the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

. He was then eliminated by Welshman

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, ...

0–5. He also reached the same stage in Welsh Open qualifying having beaten

Matthew Couch Matthew Couch (born 30 June 1974) is an English former professional snooker player. Career During a professional career lasting from 1992 to 2012, Couch had little success in ranking events, although he reached the quarter-finals of the UK Ch ...

5–2 and

Mark Joyce Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English professional snooker player who lives in Walsall. He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003. Joyce enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, winning the European Under-19 Cham ...

5–4 before losing 2–5 to

Marcus Campbell Marcus Campbell (born 22 September 1972) is a Scottish former professional snooker player. He was ranked within the world's top 64 for 15 consecutive seasons. Career Campbell is most famous for whitewashing Stephen Hendry 9–0 in the 1998 ...

. Zhang comfortably beat Craig Steadman 10–4 in his first match of

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, ...

qualifying, scoring his first century of the season in the penultimate frame. He then beat veteran

John Parrott John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...

10–6 in the next round. He made a second century, a 113, as he won the last five frames to progress. In the penultimate qualifying round, he beat

Andrew Higginson Andrew Higginson (born 13 December 1977) is an English former professional snooker player from Widnes, Cheshire. He is best known for being the surprise finalist of the 2007 Welsh Open. Career Early years After some success in amateur tourn ...

10–8 in a topsy turvy match. Zhang led 7–3 scoring a 114 in the process before Higginson went ahead 8–7. Zhang took the last three to go through to the final qualifying round.

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 ...

, provisionally in the top 16 before the tournament, was Zhang's last obstacle to overcome. The first 16 frames were shared before a 134 break in frame 17 and a 103 break in frame 18 for Zhang resulted in a 10–8 victory. This meant that he would be only the fourth

player to play at

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

and the lowest ranked player (number 71) to qualify for tournament. He is also one of only a few players to make it to

in their debut season. This result denied Walden a top 16 place for the following season. Zhang was drawn against seven-time World Snooker 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 ...

in the first round of the event. Zhang was 0–4 down in the match but rallied to trail only 4–5 after the first session. Hendry increased his lead to 7–5 before Zhang won four frames in a row to be on the cusp of a famous win. He wasted a chance to take the match in the next frame and went on to lose 9–10. Zhang ended the season ranked world number 71.

2010/2011 season

Zhang began the 2010–11 season well by defeating

Jak Jones Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player. Jones was born in Cwmbran, Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16, by winning the 2010 European Under 19 Snooker Championship in Malta. Career Professio ...

5–4,

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...

5–1 and

Stuart Pettman Stuart Pettman (born 24 April 1975) is an English former professional snooker player and author. The Preston native has qualified for the World Championship three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2010. He beat 2005 champion Shaun Murphy in qualifying t ...

5–3 to reach the final qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters. He faced

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple c ...

and was beaten 2–5. However, he could only win more match in qualifying for the remaining six ranking events, concluding with a 6–10 loss to

Andrew Pagett Andrew Pagett (born 25 April 1982) is a Welsh professional snooker player. Career Early career He played on Challenge Tour from 2003 to 2005, and first qualified for the Main Tour in 2008–09, but lost his place after just one season. He ...

in the first round of

qualifying. He finished the season ranked world number 84, well outside of the top 64 who retain their places on the snooker tour. He therefore entered Q School in an attempt to win back his place and was one match away from doing so in the first event, but lost 1–4 to

David Grace David Grace (born 1949 in Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby, Warwickshire, England) is a British motorsport, racing driver and businessman. He was the Chief Executive Officer, CEO at Rockingham Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2002, and oversaw the openi ...

. He couldn't qualify from the remaining two events and did not have a place on tour next season.

2011/2012 season

After being relegated off the tour the previous year, Zhang was confined to entering minor-ranking

Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification ...

during the 2011–12 season. He played in all 12 of them, but had to wait until the final event, the FFB Snooker Open, for his first win which was a 4–1 triumph over

Jamie Burnett Jamie Burnett (born 16 September 1975) is a Scottish former professional snooker player from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. A journeyman, Burnett was ranked within the world's top 64 players for 20 consecutive years between 1996 and 2016, reachin ...

. Zhang was beaten by the same scoreline by

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional i ...

in the next round to finish a lowly 115th on the Order of Merit. Zhang lost in the final of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship 2–5 to

Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mar ...

, but as Vafaei had already qualified for the main snooker tour, Zhang received a place for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and 2013–14 seasons.

2012/2013 season

Zhang lost in the first round of qualifying for the opening three ranking events of the season. He played in all three of the new minor-ranking Asian Players Tour Championship events, reaching two quarter-finals where he lost to Michael White 3–4 and

Li Hang Li Hang is the name of: * Li Hang (footballer) (李行, born 1989), Chinese association footballer *Li Hang (snooker player) (李行, born 1990), Chinese snooker player See also * Li Gang (Song dynasty) (李綱, 1083–1140), regional commander se ...

2–4 respectively. He finished 10th on the Asian Order of Merit, just outside the top eight who qualified for the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. His first win in a ranking event match this season was a 6–5 success against Li Yan in

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 ...

qualifying, but he lost 3–6 to

Alfie Burden Alfred Burden (born 14 December 1976) is an English professional snooker player from London. Career Burden originally had his eyes set on making a career as a professional footballer, but a badly broken leg curtailed this ambition. He spent a c ...

in the next round. The most matches he could win in qualifying was for the World Open by seeing off Michael Wild 5–3,

Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made hi ...

5–4 and Rory McLeod 5–2. He was edged out in the final qualifying round 4–5 by

Jamie Cope Jamie Cope (born 12 September 1985) is an English former professional snooker player. A finalist in two ranking tournaments, the 2006 Grand Prix and the 2007 China Open, Cope also reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Masters. He reached his h ...

. Zhang's season came to an end when he lost 5–10 to Michael White in the third round of

qualifying. He finished the year ranked world number 77.

2013/2014 season

Zhang won three consecutive matches 5–4 to qualify for the second ranking event of the season, the

Australian Goldfields Open The Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament. The final champion was John Higgins in 2015. History Australia had previously hosted the 1971 and 1975 World Snooker Championships, as well as several other high-pr ...

. He beat world number 20

5–1 in the first round to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in his career, where he was defeated 5–1 by world number two

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...

. Zhang also qualified for the Indian Open and beat

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator who works for Eurosport. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Du ...

4–1 in the first round, before losing 4–3 to Michael White. His best result in the minor-ranking

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

events came at the

Gdynia Open The Gdynia Open was a pro–am minor-ranking snooker tournament, which was part of the Players Tour Championship. The tournament in the 2012/2013 was split in two parts, with the first part taking place at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffie ...

in Poland where he was beaten in the quarter-finals 4–2 by

Fergal O'Brien Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player who plays on the main professional tour since 1991. Ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1994 to 2022, he has reached his highest position of 9th in the 2000� ...

. Zhang was relegated from the main tour at the end of the season as he was placed 77th in the world rankings, outside of the top 64 who remain. In his final game of the first Q School event he made a match-winning break of 54 in the deciding frame against Jamie Clarke to edge it 4–3, having been 3–0 up. The result earned Zhang a fresh two-year main tour card for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.

2014/2015 season

Zhang played a curtailed schedule of events in the first half of the 2014–15 season. He met

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached numb ...

, who was playing in his first ranking match since having treatment for lung cancer, in the first 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 ...

and came back from 5–3 down to beat him 6–5. Zhang lost 6–5 to Rory McLeod in the second round. He was whitewashed 4–0 by Gary Wilson in the first round of the Welsh Open and narrowly lost 5–4 to

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...

in the first round of the China Open. Zhang defeated Anthony Hamilton 10–3,

10–9 and won the last three frames against

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 ...

to beat him 10–9 and qualify for the

. The world number 98 was the lowest ranked player to have qualified and in his second appearance in the event he fell 8–1 down to Joe Perry in the opening session. Zhang won the first three frames of the next session which included a 132 break, but Perry went on to complete a 10–4 win.

2015/2016 season

Zhang defeated

4–3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the

Haining Open The Haining Open is a non-ranking snooker tournament. It was a minor-ranking part of the Players Tour Championship until 2015. History The tournament started in 2014 and was staged at the Haining Sports Center in Haining, Zhejiang, China. The ...

, but lost 4–3 to

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 ...

. He won his first professional event the General Cup Qualifying Event. He beat

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 ...

5–4 in the final. This was an invitation event with the winner taking the eighth and final place in the

General Cup The General Cup was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament which was held sporadically from 2004 until 2015 at the General Snooker Club in Hong Kong. History Established in 2004 under the "General Cup International" name, the tournament ...

. He would go on to reach the semi-finals of the event, where he was beaten 6–3 by

Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open. He ...

. Zhang overcame

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 ...

and

Dechawat Poomjaeng Dechawat Poomjaeng ( ''Dechāwạt Phùmcæ̂ng'', born July 11, 1978) is a Thai professional snooker player. Career Early career He won the 2010 IBSF World Snooker Championship in Damascus, Syria, defeating India's Pankaj Advani 10–7 in the ...

both 5–4 to qualify for the

German Masters The German Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament held at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany since 2011. The 2021 event was held at Milton Keynes in England because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhao Xintong is the reigning champion, h ...

and he whitewashed

5–0 in the opening round to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time in his career. His run was ended with a 5–1 defeat to

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...

. Zhang qualified for the

for the second year in a row with wins over Bratislav Krustev,

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

and

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 ...

. He lost 10–5 to

Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championsh ...

in the opening round. Zhang was just outside the top 64 in the world rankings at 65, but earned a new two-year tour card by finishing joint fifth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

2016/2017 season

Zhang comfortably beat

5–1 to play in the World Open where he defeated

5–1 and

5–2 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the third time, but he was thrashed 5–0 by David Gilbert. He got to the same stage of the

by overcoming

Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (, born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the Wo ...

6–2,

Anthony McGill Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus. McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...

6–3 and

Mitchell Mann Mitchell Mann (born 26 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player. Career Junior Mann first played snooker aged 9, after being forced to quit football after a diagnosis of Legg–Calvé–Perthes syndrome, a rare disease which r ...

6–3. Zhang was unable to make it to his first quarter-final as he lost 6–1 to

. He qualified for the China Open, but was ousted 5–1 by Mark Williams in the opening round.

2019/2020 season

Zhang remained outside the Top 64 for the entire season with a relatively poor run of form and was unable to replicate prior successes.

2020/2021 season

Owing to his previous poor season, he fell outside of the Top 64 and lost his Tour card. He did not enter the Q School event as a result of the continuing impacts of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and was therefore relegated from the professional tour. However, Zhang performed well in the 2021 CBSA China Tour and was awarded a tour card for the 2021–22 and 2022–23

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 ...

seasons as a result.

Personal

Zhang Anda was married in May 2019, but the couple postponed their honeymoon so that Zhang could play in the CBSA Chinese National Championship in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

. Zhang won the tournament, beating

Zhao Jianbo Zhao Jianbo (, born 27 August 2003) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. Zhao is among ten Chinese players currently suspended from World Snooker Tour events amid a match-fixing investigation. In January 2023, the WPBSA charged hi ...

5–3 in the final.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Team finals: 1

Pro-am finals: 2 (2 titles)

Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)

References

External links

Zhang Anda
at ''worldsnooker.com'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Anda Chinese snooker players People from Shaoguan Living people 1991 births Sportspeople from Guangdong 21st-century Chinese people