Yuan Sijun
Born | Nanchang, Jiangxi, China | 29 May 2000
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Sport country | ![]() |
Professional | 2017– |
Highest ranking | 43 (February 2020) |
Current ranking | (as of 16 July 2024) |
Best ranking finish | Semi-final (2019 Gibraltar Open) |
Yuan Sijun ( 袁思俊 ; pinyin: yúan sī jùn) (born 29 May 2000 in Nanchang) is a Chinese professional snooker player.
Career
Yuan started to play snooker at the age of 10 and played as a wildcard in many professional tournaments between ages of 13 and 16. Yuan first drew attention in 2016 when, at the age of 15, he defeated world number 13 Martin Gould in a 5–0 whitewash in the opening round of the 2016 China Open before losing 2–5 to Graeme Dott.[1][2][3] Remarkably, when he again faced Martin Gould in the 2016 Shanghai Masters in October 2016, he produced the same result, a 5–0 win.
In 2015, Yuan entered the 2015 ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship where he reached the final, but lost eventually to Akani Songsermsawad. Two years later, Yuan once again made it to the final, where he defeated Fan Zhengyi 6–2 to win the Asian Under-21 Championship; as a result, he was given a two-year card on the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. Yuan began the 2017–18 as the youngest player on the professional tour.
2017/2018 season
Yuan's first match as a professional was a narrow loss to Oliver Lines in the 2017 Riga Masters qualifiers on 31 May 2017, two days after his 17th birthday.[4] His first win was a 4–2 defeat of Allan Taylor in the European Masters qualifiers.[5] Yuan's best wins were 4–1 against Joe Perry in the English Open (which included two centuries), and 5–4 against Shaun Murphy in the Shanghai Masters. In the World Championship, he beat Fergal O'Brien 10–5, before losing 10–9 to Matthew Stevens, despite leading 9-7 and missing several chances to win. In total Yuan managed only 8 wins in his first season, and ended the season ranked 92.
2018/2019 season
With wins over Ricky Walden, Alexander Ursenbacher, Ding Junhui and Mark King, Yuan reached his first quarter-final at the China Championship, before losing to World No.1 Mark Selby. For the next few months, he progressed steadily, beating the likes of Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson. In the German Masters, he beat 4-time World Champion John Higgins 5–4 on the final black, somewhat controversially as the cue-ball appeared to touch the rest (a foul stroke) after the players had shaken hands.
Yuan's solid results in the first half of the 2018/19 season lifted him into the top-32 on the 1-year rankings, thus qualifying for the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham. He beat World Champion Mark Williams 4-3 and Stephen Maguire 4–2 to reach his second quarter-final, losing to flatmate Xiao Guodong 5–4. He attracted praise from commentators Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry, who described him as 'the best 18-year old since Ronnie O'Sullivan'.
2019/2020 season
In the International Championship Yuan suffered an agonising loss on the final black to Shaun Murphy 6–5, despite making 8 breaks over 50. This contributed to a loss of form, reaching the last 16 only once, in the Northern Ireland Open.
Personal
At the start of the 2018/2019 season, Yuan Sijun moved to Darlington and is based at the Q House Academy, managed by Chusak Phetmalaikul.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament | 2013/ 14 |
2014/ 15 |
2015/ 16 |
2016/ 17 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ranking[6][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 71 | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Riga Masters | NH | MR | A | LQ | LQ | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International Championship | WR | A | A | 1R | LQ | 3R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | QF | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Open | Tournament Not Held | A | 3R | 3R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open | 1R | Not Held | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | A | 2R | 2R | 4R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scottish Open | Tournament Not Held | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | 1R | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German Masters | A | A | A | A | LQ | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | NH | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | QF | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welsh Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shoot-Out | Non-Ranking Event | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gibraltar Open | Not Held | MR | A | 1R | SF | 2R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Haining Open | NH | MR | 1R | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Variant format tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Six-red World Championship | A | A | RR | 3R | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shanghai Masters | WR | WR | WR | 1R | 1R | Non-Rank. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hunter Classic | Minor-Ranking Event | A | WD | WD | NR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Open | A | A | NH | A | LQ | 2R | NH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
China Open | WR | WR | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 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
Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
Winner | 1. | 2019 | Huizhou Open | ![]() |
5–2[7] |
Amateur finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | 2015 | Asian Under-21 Championship | ![]() |
4–6 |
Winner | 1. | 2017 | Asian Under-21 Championship | ![]() |
6–2 |
References
- ^ "Martin Gould thrashed by 15-year-old schoolboy Yuan Sijun at China Open". The Guardian. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "China Open: Martin Gould beaten by Chinese schoolboy Yuan Sijun". BBC Sport. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "Schoolboy Yuan Sijun, 15, stuns world No.13 Martin Gould at China Open". ESPN. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "Riga Masters 2017 Qualifiers". Snooker.org. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ "European Masters 2017 Qualifiers". Snooker.org. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ "Yuan Wins First CBSA Title". WST. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
External links
- Yuan Sijun at worldsnooker.com
- Yuan Sijun at CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database