Gao Yang (snooker player)

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Gao Yang
Born (2004-09-05) 5 September 2004 (age 17)
Hefei, Anhui Province, China
Sport country China
Professional2020–present
Highest ranking74 (December 2021)
Current ranking 75 (as of 20 December 2021)

Gao Yang (born 5 September 2004) is a Chinese professional snooker player.[1]

Career[]

Gao Yang started playing on the Chinese tour aged just 13, and was quickly accepted by the CBSA Academy. He played in the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2018 and 2019, the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship and IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship also in 2018 and 2019. His only real success came in the 2019 IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship, where he reached the final, losing 5–2 to the 13-year old .[2]

His first taste of professional snooker came at the 2019 World Open, where he was a wildcard. Originally Gao's coach Ju Reti had qualified, but gave up his place in order to allow his pupil to gain experience. Gao lost the match 5–1 to Lu Ning.

In January 2020 Gao won the WSF Junior Open, an under-18 tournament. He beat heralded juniors Ben Mertens, Dean Young and Wu Yize, before overcoming Sean Maddocks 5–2 in the final. As a result, he was awarded a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2020–21 and 2021–22. Even though just 15 years old, he stated that he intended to take up his professional tour card. He thus became the second professional snooker player from Anhui, after his mentor Niu Zhuang.[3]

2020/2021 season[]

As it happened, Gao turned 16 before the start of the 2020–21 season, which was delayed due to COVID-19. His first tournament was the Championship League. Gao made 2-2 draws against Ben Woollaston and Si Jiahui, but lost 3–1 to Matt Selt. He finished his first day as a professional 3rd in the 4-player group but had made two century breaks.

In subsequent tournaments Gao had wins against Zhao Jianbo, Kacper Filipiak, Mitchell Mann and Duane Jones. In the Northern Ireland Open Gao lost 4–0 to World No.1 Judd Trump, who had breaks of 109, 127 and a maximum 147. In the World Championship, Gao beat experienced player Paul Davison 6-3 and played very well against Lyu Haotian to lead 5–3. But his more experienced compatriot won the last 3 frames to edge the match 6–5. Gao finished his debut season ranked 107.

Style[]

Gao is known as an attacking left-hander. Unusually, he can play with either hand with the rest: with his left-hand he plays underarm in a manner pioneered by the Thai player Sunny Akani.

Personal life[]

During the season, Gao Yang lives in Sheffield where he practices at the Ding Junhui Snooker Academy.

Performance and rankings timeline[]

Tournament 2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22
Ranking[4][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 75
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking RR RR
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R
Northern Ireland Open A A 2R 1R
English Open A A 2R LQ
UK Championship A A 1R 2R
Scottish Open A A 2R 1R
World Grand Prix DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Shoot-Out A A WD
German Masters A A LQ
Players Championship DNQ DNQ DNQ
European Masters A A 2R
Welsh Open A A 1R
Tournament Not Held
Gibraltar Open A A 1R
Tour Championship DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A LQ
Former ranking tournaments
World Open A LQ Not Held
WST Pro Series Not Held RR NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open 2R 2R 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.
VF / Variant Format Event means an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b He was an amateur.
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.

Career finals[]

Amateur finals: 2 (1 titles)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2019 IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship China 2–5
Winner 1. 2020 WSF Junior Open England Sean Maddocks 5–2

References[]

  1. ^ "Gao Yang". snooker.org. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. ^ http://www.ibsf.info/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=948:jiang-jun-becomes-world-under-18-snooker-champion&Itemid=387
  3. ^ "SNOOKER CONTINUES TO LEAD SPORT'S RETURN WITH TOUR STRUCTURE PLANS". World Snooker Tour. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
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