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===Amateur===
===Amateur===
*[[IBSF World Under-21 Championship]] - 2005
*[[IBSF World Under-21 Championship]] - 2005

==Personal Life==

*He is friends with former [[Manchester City F.C.|Man City]] player [[Sun Jihai]].


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 21:26, 21 March 2010

Template:Chinese name

Liang Wenbo
NicknameThe Firecracker[1]
Professional2005 - present
Highest ranking
  1. 27
Century breaks292
Best ranking finishRunner-up (2009 Shanghai Masters)
Liang Wenbo
Medal record
Men's Snooker
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha Individual
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha Team

Liang Wenbo (Chinese: 梁文博, pinyin: Liáng Wénbó ; born 5 March 1987) is a professional snooker player. He is left-handed[4] and ranked as China's number 2 player, after Ding Junhui. Liang is based at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England.[4]

Career

As an amateur, Liang's major feats were as follows:[5]

  • 2003 IBSF World Snooker Championship, men's division, quarter-finalist
  • 2004 IBSF World Snooker Championship, under-21 division, semi-finalist
  • 2005 International Open Series, under-21 division, no. 4 runner-up

Liang built on the positive start to his snooker career, winning an individual silver medal and a team gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games.

2004/05

During the 2004/05 snooker season, Liang took part in the Challenge Tour (now called the International Open Series), the tier below the World Snooker Association Main Tour. He finished a lowly 104th out of 168 competitors, having only accumulated 2150 points.[6]

2005/06

Despite not qualifying for the main snooker tour directly, Liang received a wildcard nomination to the main tour;[7] this was because he won the 2005 IBSF World Under 21 Championship and because not all the players that were eligible for the main tour took their places.[8] In his first ranking tournament, the 2005 Preston Grand Prix, Liang lost in the first qualifying round to Rory McLeod 5-2.[9] In the next ranking event, the 2005 UK Snooker Championship, he fared better, nearly whitewashing Alfred Burden in the first qualifying round 9-1; he lost in the second qualifying round to Marcus Campbell by the narrowest of margins, 9-8.[10]

It was to be at the 2006 Welsh Open where Liang would qualify for his first ranking event; he beat Sean Storey, Jamie Burnett and Rory McLeod to get into the main draw. His first opponent in the main draw, Nigel Bond, who had played professional snooker since 1989 was whitewashed; Liang won 5-0. His run was halted by Graeme Dott when he lost 5-3.[11]

However at the Malta Cup he lost in the first qualifying round to Paul Davies 5-3.[12] At the China Open he beat David McDonnell and Matthew Couch before losing Adrian Gunnell 5-3 in the third qualifying round.[13] He ended the season, falling at the first hurdle at the World Snooker Championship losing to Joe Delaney 10-5 in the first qualifying round.[14] He ended his debut season on the professional tour ranked 78th on the tour, which did not guarantee a place in next season's tour; however he just finished inside the top 8 of the one year list, qualifying him for a place in next season's main tour. [15]

2006/07

During the 2006/07 season, Liang reached at least the second round of qualifying in every ranking event. At the Northern Ireland Trophy he beat Robert Stephen 5-0 before falling to David Gilbert 5-0 in qualifying. [16] However, at the Aberdeen Grand Prix, Liang came top of his qualifying group, above more experienced players such as Gerard Greene and Barry Pinches. He finishing fourth in the group, and although he did not qualify for the next round, he did beat former world champion and world number one Stephen Hendry 3-0.[17] At the 2006 UK Snooker Championship, he lost in the second round of qualifying to Jamie Burnett 9-7.[18] In the following ranking event, the 2007 Malta Cup, he lost to Joe Jogia 5-3, again in the second round of qualifying.[19] He qualified for his third ranking tournament, at the Welsh Open by beating Dene O'Kane, Joe Jogia and Mark Davis. In the Last 48, he met Nigel Bond again, only this time losing 5-3.[20]

He continued his run of reaching the second round of qualifying in every ranking tournament at the China Open, beating Robert Stephen before losing to Finland's Robin Hull.[21] At the World Snooker Championship he beat Jeff Cundy before losing to Mike Dunn.[22] After a modest season, he improved on his tour ranking by finishing in 66th place, just outside the top 64;[23] he topped the one year ranking list to ensure his place on the WSA Tour for next season.[24]

2007/08

Liang's season started brightly; he nearly qualified for the Shanghai Masters, however again Nigel Bond beat him 5-3 in the last qualifying round preventing him from appearing in his home tournament. At the Grand Prix, he could not repeat the success of last season and failed to qualify, finishing third on frame difference. The next tournament in Northern Ireland brought more luck; he won through the qualifying beating Fraser Patrick, Joe Delaney and Rory McLeod on the way. In the last 48, he faced Gerard Greene, and lost 5-2. He did not do as well in the UK Championship; he lost in the second qualifying round to David Roe 9-2. He also failed to qualify for the Welsh Open, falling at the last hurdle losing to Andrew Norman 5-2. At his other home tournament, the China Open he fell at the first hurdle, losing in the first qualifying round to Steve Mifsud, who at the end of this season was ranked 54 places below him. [25]

2008 World Championships

At the 2008 World Championships, Liang was the third Chinese player to qualify for the event, with victories over Ben Woollaston, Rod Lawler, David Gilbert and Ian McCulloch.

At the championship itself, he drew a first round meet with Ken Doherty, who he defeated 10 frames to 5, knocking the former world champion out of the top sixteen for the first time since 1993. Before the start of this match, Wenbo accidentally entered the arena with the match officials and had to scurry back. He subsequently got a warm ovation when he entered the arena for a second time after being introduced by MC Rob Walker.[26] For every session thereafter, Walker introduced him as "Should he stay or should he go... Liang Wenbo", despite the rhyme occurring because of a mispronunciation of his name ("bo" is pronounced "boo-a" in Chinese).

Liang faced Ireland's Joe Swail in the last 16 of the tournament. In a humorous incident, Liang fluked a red after scattering the balls, but failed to notice and went back to his seat. To laughter, Swail pointed out his mistake and the referee called Liang back to the table.[26] In the 23rd frame, Liang, with a 12-10 lead, prematurely celebrated winning after potting match ball, only to go on to lose the frame due to a snooker. Swail came back to level the match at 12-12.[27] In the final frame, Liang made breaks of 34 and 30 early on. He missed the final yellow but snookered Swail, leaving the white in the jaws of the pocket. Liang played a safety and Swail snookered him behind the blue, but Liang failed to hit the ball and Swail had the white replaced. Liang then hit the yellow directly.[27]

This incident proved controversial as the referee replaced the white in the wrong position, giving Liang a better sight of the yellow. At the time, Swail nodded his assent to the referee, but in a post-match interview, complained and accused Liang of unprofessional behaviour for not pointing out the referee's error. Commentators countered that Swail should have queried the placement of the ball before Liang took his shot, and given the tension of the situation Liang could be forgiven for not thinking clearly. Liang went on to win the frame 74-34, and thus, the match 13-12.[27]

In the quarter final Liang faced tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan. Liang took the first two frames with a break of 80 in the first. O'Sullivan levelled the match 4-4 by the end of the first session. In the second session O'Sullivan eased ahead, and went on to win 13-7.

After the World Championships

Liang's unexpected run to the quarter-finals gained him 5000 ranking points, boosting his final ranking to number 40 in the world.[25] This would guarantee that at most he would only have to play two qualifying matches to get into the main draw of the ranking tournaments.

2008/09

Liang began the new season by qualifying for the last 48 of the Northern Ireland Trophy. At the venue he then beat Steve Davis and Peter Ebdon to reach the last 16, where he lost to John Higgins 5-1. This result lifted him to a provisional career high of 26 in the world.[28]. At the Grand Prix he reached the main draw by winning 2 qualifying matches, but then succumbed to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round of the main draw. He then made a 147 (and three other centuries, including two total clearances of 139) in a 5-1 victory over Martin Gould in the third qualifying for the Bahrain Championship.[4] However, he failed to qualify for the main draw, losing 5-2 to Michael Judge.

For the two Chinese events on the 2008/2009 tour, Liang's two qualifying matches were held over until the venue stages. This leaves him having to win seven matches in successive days to win either of these tournaments. At the Shanghai Masters Wenbo defeated Atthasit Mahitthi and Mark Allen to reach the main draw, but lost to Ryan Day 5-0 in the first round.[29]. Ironically, his second qualifying match for the Welsh Open was held over to ensure that his Welsh opponent Dominic Dale played at the venue.

Liang ended the season at the World Championship, after defeating Dave Harold 10-3 in qualifying. His post-match interview was translated into English by rival Ding Junhui[30]

2009/10

In July 2009 Liang won his first professional title, the Beijing International Challenge beating world number #2 Stephen Maguire 7-6 in the final.[31]

In August 2009 he made a further breakthrough when he reached the final of the Shanghai Masters. With this he became only the second Chinese player to reach a ranking final, and the fourth Asian man. He ultimately finished runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan .[32] [33]

Liang qualified for the 2009 Grand Prix but was defeated 5-2 by Peter Ebdon in the first round, winning the first two frames and losing the last five in the succession. Prior to this meeting, Liang had played Ebdon twice and won 5-1 and 5-0.[34]

Liang reached the quarter finals of the 2009 UK Snooker Championship after defeating Ryan Day (9-3) and Mark King (9-2). He went on to lose 9-2 to John Higgins in the quarter final.

In qualifying for the 2010 World Championships he has virtually assured a top 16 ranking for the 2010-11 season.

Tournament wins

Non-ranking

Amateur

Personal Life

References

  1. ^ "Liang Wenbo". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ Phil Yates (2008). "Ken Doherty loses status after fearless show from Liang Wenbo". The Times Online. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  3. ^ "Wenbo Liang". Yahoo! UK. 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Official player profile of Liang Wenbo". wst.tv. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. "Players" section. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  5. ^ Janie Watkins (2006). "Player Profile: Liang Wenbo". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  6. ^ "2004-5 Challenge Tour Rankings". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  7. ^ "2005-6 Main Tour List". Global Snooker Centre. 2005. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  8. ^ "IBSF UNDER-21 WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIPS". Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  9. ^ Template:Wayback
  10. ^ Template:Wayback
  11. ^ Template:Wayback
  12. ^ Template:Wayback
  13. ^ Template:Wayback
  14. ^ Template:Wayback
  15. ^ 2006-7 Main Tour - Eligible Players
  16. ^ "2006 Northern Ireland Trophy". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  17. ^ "2006 Grand Prix". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  18. ^ "2006 UK Championship". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  19. ^ "2006-7 Malta Cup". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  20. ^ "2007 Welsh Open". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  21. ^ "2007 China Open". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  22. ^ "2007 World Snooker Championship". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  23. ^ "2006-7 Main Tour - Final Rankings". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  24. ^ "2006-7 Main Tour - One Year Rankings". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  25. ^ a b "2007-8 Main Tour Rankings". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  26. ^ a b "Liang Wenbo's Days in Crucible Theatre 2008". Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  27. ^ a b c "Liang edges out Swail in classic". BBC Sport. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  28. ^ "Provisional World Rankings". World Snooker. Retrieved September 6 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  29. ^ http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/2008-9/Professional/2008-shanghai-draw.htm
  30. ^ Twice-Champ Williams Secures Crucible Place
  31. ^ "Wenbo Bags first Professional title in the BTV Beijing Challenge". Global Snooker. 2009-07-12. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  32. ^ "Liang Stuns Murphy To Reach Final". WPBSA. 2009-09-12. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  33. ^ "O'Sullivan seals Shanghai Masters". BBC Sport. 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  34. ^ "Peter Ebdon beats Liang Wenbo to reach Grand Prix second round". Telegraph. 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
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