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Li Yan (snooker player)

Li Yan
Born (1992-09-17) September 17, 1992 (age 32)
Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Sport country China
Professional2011–2014
Highest ranking64 (January–February 2012)[1]
Best ranking finishLast 32 (x3)

Li Yan (Chinese: 李岩; born September 17, 1992) is a former professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China.

Career

Early career

Li received a wild card for the 2008 Shanghai Masters, losing 1–5 to Anthony Hamilton. At the 2009 Shanghai Masters, he defeated Gerard Greene 5–4, before losing to Ryan Day in the last 32.

2011/2012 season

Li qualified for the 2011/2012 professional Main Tour as one of four semi-finalists from the second 2011 Q School event.[2] As a new player on the tour Li would need to win four matches in order to reach the main stage of the ranking tournaments. He accomplished this in qualifying for the second biggest tournament on the snooker calendar, the UK Championship, with wins over Stuart Carrington, Andy Hicks, Jack Lisowski and Fergal O'Brien.[3] He faced former world champion Shaun Murphy in the first round of the event and was beaten 3–6.[4] He could not qualify for another tournament for the remainder of the season but did play in all 12 of the PTC events throughout the season reaching, but not progressing past, the last 16 on three occasions.[5]

Li finished the season ranked world number 67, just outside the top 64 who retain their places on the tour.[6] However, due to being ranked 43rd on the PTC Order of Merit he secured one of the eight spots for the highest non-qualified players to play in the 2012/2013 season.[5]

2012/2013 season

Li only won two matches in ranking event qualifiers in the 2012/2013 season.[7] His best results in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events were last 16 losses in the third Asian PTC and the fourth European Tour Event, to Stuart Bingham and Rory McLeod respectively.[7] He lost seven consecutive games after this, before beating Robbie Williams 10–7 in the first round of World Championship Qualifying, but his season was ended when he lost 10–2 to Jimmy Robertson in the following round.[8] Li dropped 17 places in the rankings during the year to finish it at world number 84.[9]

2013/2014 season

The first ranking tournament Li could qualify for in the 2013/2014 season was the Indian Open by beating Peter Lines 4–2. He then edged out Jeff Cundy 4–3 to record his first ever win in the main draw of a ranking event, before being thrashed 4–0 by John Higgins.[10] Li also qualified for the International Championship and World Open during the season, losing to compatriots Liang Wenbo and Ding Junhui in the first round.[10] He won more than one match in an event for the only time this season in the World Championship qualifiers by defeating Elliot Slessor 10–5, Dave Harold 10–3 and Joe Swail 10–8, to be just one win away from reaching The Crucible for the first time, but he was thoroughly outplayed by Xiao Guodong in a 10–1 loss.[11] The result ensured Li would not be among the top 64 in the world rankings who keep their places on the snooker tour as he was ranked number 86 and so he played in Q School in an attempt to earn his place back.[12] Li lost in the last 128 of the first event and the last 32 of the second to confirm his exit from the tour.[10]

2014/2015 season

Li entered the three Asian Tour events during the 2014/2015 season, but was knocked out in the first round of each. He again entered Q School, but could not win a match in either of the events, losing 4–3 to both Daniel Wells and Jamie Clarke.[13]

2015/2016 season

Li only played in the Haining Open and was eliminated 4–1 in the first round by John Higgins.[14]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2008/
09
2009/
10
2010/
11
2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
Ranking[15][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 4] 84 [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ 1R A A A A A
World Open[nb 5] A A A A LQ 1R NH A A A A
UK Championship A A A 1R LQ 1R A A A A A
German Masters Not Held A LQ LQ LQ A A A A A
Welsh Open A A A LQ LQ 1R A A A A A
Players Championship[nb 6] Not Held A DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
China Open A WR WR LQ LQ LQ A A A A A
World Championship A A A LQ LQ LQ A A A A A
Non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Tournament Not Held MR 1R 1R 1R 1R
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic[nb 7] Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Not Held LQ LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters WR 1R WR LQ LQ LQ A A A Non-Ranking
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 2R A A A A NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Beijing International Challenge NH A LQ Tournament Not Held
Hainan Classic Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
General Cup[nb 8] NH SF NH A A A A Tournament Not Held
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.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h He was an amateur.
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  4. ^ Players qualified through Players Tour Championship Order of Merit started the season without ranking points.
  5. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  6. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  7. ^ The event ran under the name Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  8. ^ The event was called the General Cup International (2004/2005–2011/2012)

References

  1. ^ "Issued after the Players Tour Championship 2012 – Event 12" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 9 January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Chinese Duo Join Main Tour". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Li Yan 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Martin Gould and Shaun Murphy into round two". Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Order of Merit". WWW Snooker. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Li Yan 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  10. ^ a b c "Li Yan 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Snooker - Ebdon fails to reach World Championship". Eurosport. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  12. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Li Yan 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Li Yan 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  15. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.