Liu Hongyu (snooker player)

Liu Hongyu (born 21 April 2004) is a Chinese snooker player. He won the APBSF Asia-Pacific Championship on 1 May 2023 to qualify for the World Snooker Tour, on a two-year card, starting from the 2023–24 snooker season.

Early life
Liu is from Taishan in the Guangdong province of China.

Career
At the 2022 Q School first event defeated Belgian Ben Mertens which included a break of 137. He also scored centuries in Q school against Alfie Lee, and a 134 against Andy Milliard.

2022–23 season
In February 2023 he lost in the quarter finals to eventual winner Ma Hailong at the WSF Championship in Sydney, Australia. During the tournament he had impressed with his high scoring, including breaks of 138 and 133.

In April 2023 Liu lost in the final of the first CBSA World Snooker Tour qualifying tournament to Jiang Jun. The following month he won the Asia-Pacific Championship with a 6-1 win in the final against Yuchen Wang to be the APBSF Asia Pacific qualifier on to the World Snooker Tour for the 2023-24 snooker season, on a two-year card.

2023–24 season
He started the 2023-24 season with the 2023 Championship League held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England from 26 June 2023. With victories over Ricky Walden, David Lilley and Peng Yisong, Liu topped his group at the Championship League on his tour debut. In the second stage round-robin, he lost to Noppon Saengkham before beating Ashley Carty and drawing with Daniel Wells to finish as runner-up in the group to Saengkham. He earned another professional win on 17 August 2023, at the British Open qualifying in Leicester, with a 4-1 win over Baipat Siripaporn. He qualified for the 2023 European Masters, held in Germany, but had to pull out of the event when an issue with his visa prevented his travel.

In October 2023, at the English Open, he came from 3-1 down to defeat former World Champion Shaun Murphy 4-3. He followed this up with credible wins over ranking event finalist Joe O'Connor and former snooker shoot-out winner Chris Wakelin before defeating another former world champion Mark Williams to reach his first ranking event quarter-final. He then triumphed over compatriot Ding Junhui to reach his first ranking semi-final, before losing to Zhang Anda by 2-6. In December 2023, he recorded a second win of the season over Shaun Murphy, winning 4-1 at the Scottish Open. He qualified for the 2024 German Masters in Berlin with a 5-0 whitewash over the experienced Dominic Dale.

In the qualifying round of the 2024 World Snooker Championship he defeated Jimmy White 10-3.