Ma Hailong

Ma Hailong (born 4 September 2003) is a snooker player from China. In February 2023, he won the 2023 World Snooker Federation Championship, and with it earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour.

Early life
At the age of thirteen, Ma Hailong took six months out of school in order to travel the 1000 miles from his home to train at the CBSA World Snooker Academy in Beijing.

Career
In January 2023, at the Guangzhou Snooker Championship, Ma Hailong defeated Jiang Jun in the final to win the championship.

In February 2023 Ma Hailong defeated Stan Moody in the final of the WSF Championship in Sydney, Australia where the win secured him the offer of a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour. On the way to victory in the tournament he defeated Liu Hongyu and former professional Gao Yang. It was his first overseas tournament outside of China. Previously a student at the CBSA Academy branch in Guangdong, after his win it was reported he was planning to move to the United Kingdom to be managed by Bobby Lee and Elite Sports Management.

He entered into the invitational 2023 Six-red World Championship held in Pathum Thani, Thailand in March 2023.

2023/24
He was entered into the draw draw at the 2023 Championship League held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England from 26 June 2023. He went unbeaten in his round-robin stage, earning draws against Mink Nutcharut, John Astley and Gary Wilson. In August 2023, he defeated Ian Burns to qualify for the latter rounds of the 2023 British Open. At the event, held in Cheltenham in September 2023, he reached the last-16 of a ranking event for the first time. At the 2023 Northern Ireland Open he defeated 12th seed Ryan Day in a deciding frame.

In November 2023, he was on the receiving end of a maximum 147 break at the 2023 UK Championship in a 6–1 defeat by compatriot Xu Si. In the first round of qualifying for the 2024 World Snooker Championship he defeated Brazilian Victor Sarkis 10-1. In the second round, he overcame Englishman Martin O'Donnell 10-7.

2024/25
In June 2024, he made a successful start to the 2024-25 snooker season at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester, topping his round-Robin group that contained former world champion John Higgins.