Fan Zhengyi

Fan Zhengyi (Chinese: 范争一; born 27 January 2001) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2017, and turned professional in 2018. He had a breakthrough season in 2021–22 when he reached his first ranking quarter-final at the 2022 German Masters and then won his first ranking title at the 2022 European Masters, defeating then six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in the final. He became the fifth Chinese player to win a ranking title, following Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Yan Bingtao, and Zhao Xintong.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Fan (范).
Fan Zhengyi
Born (2001-01-27) 27 January 2001
Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Sport country China
NicknameFan-Tastic[1]
Professional2018–present
Highest ranking29 (October 2023)
Current ranking 31 (as of 16 October 2023)
Tournament wins
Ranking1

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 the 2020 Q School. With 7 wins and no losses in the first event he was successful, beating two-time ranking event winner Michael White 4–2 in the final round, thus gaining entry to the 2020-21 and 2021-22 snooker seasons.

2020/2021

Fan played in the very first match of the 2020-21 season, against Judd Trump in a Championship League group. He finished the group in 2nd place after beating David Lilley and drawing with Alan McManus. After that he had a run of 6 losses. His only win against a professional in match longer than best-of-5 frames was a 6-4 defeat of Zak Surety in the World Championship. He finished the season ranked 118.

2021/2022

After the 2021 season, Fan returned to China for the first time in 18 months. He played in the China City teams event in Xi'an, playing for the local Shaanxi team alongside Zhao Xintong and Li Hang. They were beaten in the quarter-final by eventual winners, Shanghai.

His 2021–22 professional season began with 4 losses and 1 win, against amateur David Lilley. Fan then produced his first win against a top-20 player, beating Thepchaiya Un-nooh 5–3 in the first round of qualifying for the German Masters. He followed this up with a 5–4 win over Lu Ning to qualify for the main event, held at the Tempodrom in Berlin. He defeated opponents including Liam Highfield and Andrew Higginson, before a 0–5 loss to Mark Allen in the quarter-finals.

In the European Masters, Fan produced his best performance to date in a ranking tournament, defeating opponents including Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, David Gilbert, and Graeme Dott to reach his first ranking final.[7] He faced six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. Fan took two-frame leads at 4–2, 6–4, and 8–6, but O'Sullivan recovered to draw level each time. Fan took a 9–8 lead, but O'Sullivan again drew level to force a deciding frame. After O'Sullivan missed a long red in the decider, Fan made a 92 break to win the match 10–9 for his first ranking title. Fan became the fifth Chinese player to win a ranking event, after Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Yan, and Zhao Xintong.[8][9]

2022/23

In November 2022 Fan reached the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions event, held in Bolton, defeating Neil Robertson and Ryan Day in the process.[10]

In April 2023 Zhengyi defeated Stephen Maguire in the final qualifying round 10-6 to reach the World Snooker Championship, held at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield for the first time.[11]

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 former professional Roger Leighton.[12]

Personal life

Fan was also a promising table tennis player, but decided to concentrate on snooker. He is also a cat-lover.

During his first three years as a professional, he made no century breaks, despite being known as a heavy scorer in junior and amateur tournaments in China. In an interview with Liu Song he revealed that he deliberately avoided making them, wanting his first professional century to be a 147. He nearly achieved this in the World Championship against Zak Surety, but missed a difficult 13th red to a baulk pocket with the remaining balls in good positions. After this, he abandoned the plan.[13]

During the season, he lives in Sheffield and practices at the Victoria Academy. He shares a house with fellow professional snooker player Si Jiahui.[14]

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2016/
17		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20		 2020/
21		 2021/
22		 2022/
23		 2023/
24
Ranking[15][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 92 [nb 4] 85 36 32
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR A A RR
European Masters A A LQ LQ 1R W LQ LQ
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R LQ QF
English Open A A 1R 3R 1R LQ 1R 1R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held LQ
Northern Ireland Open A A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R
International Championship A LQ 1R LQ Not Held
UK Championship A A 1R 2R 1R 2R LQ
Shoot Out A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R
Scottish Open A A 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ
World Grand Prix DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
German Masters A A LQ LQ LQ QF 1R
Welsh Open A A 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ
Players Championship DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Open A LQ LQ LQ Not Held
Tour Championship Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Ranking Event 1R A Not Held QF
Champion of Champions A A A A A A SF
Six-red World Championship A A A A Not Held LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Indian Open A A LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open 1R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters A A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
China Championship NR LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
Gibraltar Open A A 2R 1R 2R 1R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 2R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open 2R QF 2R A NH A 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 Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. He was an amateur
  3. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent Score
Winner 1. 2022 European Masters England Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 2017 ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship China Yuan Sijun 2–6
Winner 1. 2017 World Under-21 Snooker Championship China Luo Honghao 7–6

References
  1. "Fan Zhengyi". wst.tv. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  2. "Snooker life of an eight-year-old Harbin boy". 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  3. "Singapore Snooker Open 2015 Results". 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  4. "Fan Zhengyi Wins World Under-21 Championship - SnookerHQ". 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  5. "China's youth dominates the top amateur snooker scene". Blasting News. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  6. "World Snooker Team Cup: India in Doha semis - The Peninsula Qatar". www.thepeninsulaqatar.com. 2 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  7. "Rocket to face Fan in European Masters final". RTÉ.ie. 2022-02-26. Archived from the original on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  8. "Fan beats O'Sullivan 10-9 in final". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  9. "China's Fan Stuns O'Sullivan In Dramatic Final". World Snooker. 2022-02-27. Archived from the original on 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  10. "FAN ZHENGYI REACHES SEMI-FINALS AT 2022 CAZOO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS". Championofchampionssnooker.co.uk. November 1, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  11. "World Snooker Championship: Jak Jones beats Barry Hawkins in final qualifying round". BBC Sport. April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  12. "Snooker coach Roger has China in his hands". Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  13. "Interview with Fan Zhengyi". Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  14. "Fan Thrilled to Bounce Back". September 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  15. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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