Fan Zhengyi
| Born | 27 January 2001 Harbin, Heilongjiang, China |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  China |
| Nickname | Fan-tastic[1] |
| Professional | 2018– |
| Highest ranking | 91 (Dec 2019) |
| Current ranking | 49 (as of 11 November 2024) |
| Best ranking finish | Last 32 (2019 English Open) |
Fan Zhengyi (born 27 January 2001) is a Chinese professional snooker player.
Career
Fan started playing snooker at the age of 5 in Harbin. Just one year later he finished 5th in the National Youth Pool Championships. When he was 8 he finished 3rd in the National Youth Snooker Championships.[2] A trip to Singapore at the age of 14 saw him reach the final of the 2015 Cuesports Singapore Snooker Open, losing to experienced local player Marvin Lim 5-3, after taking a 2-0 lead. [3]
Early career
In July 2017, Fan won five out of the last six frames to beat top seed Luo Honghao 7–6 and win the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship at the tournament held in China. With this victory he was awarded a two-year Main Tour card for the professional snooker tour.[4][5]
He competed at the 2018 World Snooker Team Cup representing China with Zhang Jiankang but they lost to India 2–3 in the Round of 16.[6]
2018/2019
At just 17, Fan was the youngest player on the professional tour in 2018-19. His first match was a 4-1 loss to Jack Lisowski in the Riga Masters, and his first win was against his practice partner Lyu Haotian 6-5 in the International Championship. However, he could only manage one further win in the remainder of the season, which finished in a 10-5 loss to Chris Wakelin in the World Championship.
2019/2020
Fan played in the 2019 China National Championship in Xi'an, seeded number 3, but lost in the 3rd round to Jin Long 4-2. He did however achieve the highest break in the competition of 143.
Fan's best performance in the 2019-20 season came in the English Open. After a close win against Riley Parsons 4-3, he faced Chris Wakelin. At 3-3 the match ended on a respotted black in the final frame. After easy misses by both players Fan potted it to reach the last-32 for the first time. His run was ended by Shaun Murphy 4-0.
In subsequent tournaments Fan had further victories against Zhou Yuelong and Peter Lines. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the snooker season was suspended. Fan Zhengyi was one of only 4 Chinese players to stay in the UK, but was unable to practice due to lockdown restrictions. He played in the rescheduled World Championship, and beat amateur Dylan Emery 6-4 in the first round. He produced a fine attacking display in the second round against Dominic Dale, but eventually lost 6-4 after having led 4-3. Thus his season finished ranked 92, which meant he was relegated from the tour.
In an attempt to regain his Tour Card, Fan entered Q School. With 7 wins and no losses he was successful, beating two-time ranking event winner Michael White 4-2 in the final round.
Technique
Fan has a very unusual technique. He is very left-eye dominant, and when playing the shot, his cue is to the left of his head. Before turning professional, he was a member of the Wiraka Snooker Academy and was coached by Roger Leighton.[7]
Personal
Fan was also a promising table tennis player, but decided to concentrate on snooker. He is also a cat-lover. During the season, he lives in Sheffield and practices at the Victoria Academy.[8]
Performance and rankings timeline
| Tournament | 2016/ 17 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2020/ 21 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[9][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 92 | [nb 4] | ||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| European Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | ||||
| English Open | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | ||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | RR | |||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||||
| UK Championship | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | ||||
| Scottish Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||
| German Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||
| Shoot-Out | A | A | 1R | 1R | |||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | 1R | 2R | |||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||
| Gibraltar Open | A | A | 2R | 1R | |||||
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | RR | |||||||
| Tour Championship | Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||
| World Championship | A | A | LQ | LQ | |||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| Indian Open | A | A | LQ | Not Held | |||||
| China Open | 1R | LQ | LQ | Not Held | |||||
| Riga Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | NH | ||||
| International Championship | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | NH | ||||
| China Championship | NR | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | ||||
| World Open | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | NH | ||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Ranking | 1R | A | NH | |||||
| Haining Open | 2R | QF | 2R | 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. | |||
Career finals
Amateur finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship | Yuan Sijun
|
2–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 2017 | World Under-21 Snooker Championship | Luo Honghao
|
7–6 |
References
- ^ "Fan Zhengyi". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Snooker life of an eight-year-old Harbin boy". 10 December 2009.
- ^ "Singapore Snooker Open 2015 Results". 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Fan Zhengyi Wins World Under-21 Championship - SnookerHQ". 17 July 2017.
- ^ News, Blasting. "China's youth dominates the top amateur snooker scene".
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "World Snooker Team Cup: India in Doha semis - The Peninsula Qatar". www.thepeninsulaqatar.com.
- ^ "Snooker coach Roger has China in his hands".
- ^ "Fan Thrilled to Bounce Back".
- ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
External links
- Fan Zhengyi at worldsnooker.com