Lu Ning
Paul Hunter Classic 2014
Born (1994-01-01) 1 January 1994
Jilin, China[1]
Sport country China
Professional2014–2016, 2018–2023
Highest ranking28 (November 2021)
Best ranking finishRunner-up (x1)

Lu Ning (Chinese: 鲁宁; born 1 January 1994 in Jilin) is a former professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China who, in 2023, was banned from professional competition for five years and four months after committing match-fixing offences.

In December 2022, Lu was suspended from the professional tour amid a match-fixing investigation.[2] In January 2023, he was charged with being concerned in fixing matches and approaching players to fix matches, seeking to obstruct a WPBSA investigation, and betting on snooker matches.[3] Following an independent disciplinary tribunal, Lu was banned from professional snooker until 6 April 2028.[2]

Career

Lu's first appearance in a ranking tournament was in the wildcard round of the 2012 World Open, where he defeated 1996 British Open winner Nigel Bond 5–4 in Haikou. He met Mark Selby in the first round and, despite taking the first two frames, Lu lost 3–5.[4] Lu continued to show his talent in the next local ranking tournament, the 2012 China Open. He was awarded a wildcard to compete against Welsh player Jamie Jones, where Lu won 5–3.[5] He won against 2005 world snooker champion Shaun Murphy by 5–2, with two centuries.[6] However, in the second round Ali Carter won 5–1.[7]

2012–13 season

In the 2012/2013 season Lu was awarded a place in the wildcard round for five ranking events, losing at this stage in four of them.[8] At the International Championship he beat Barry Pinches 6–5, before losing in the first round 6–4 to Ricky Walden.[8] He played in all three of the new Asian Players Tour Championships, but could not advance beyond the third round in any of them to finish 45th on the Asian Order of Merit.[9]

2013–14 season

In July 2013 he became the IBSF Under 21 World Champion, defeating Zhou Yuelong 9–4 in the final.[10] He came through the wildcard round of the Wuxi Classic by beating Adam Duffy 5–3, before losing 5–1 to Matthew Stevens.[11] His Under-21 title earned him a two-year main tour card starting with the 2014/2015 season.[12]

2014–15 season

Lu failed to qualify for any ranking events besides the UK Championship and the Welsh Open for which all players on the tour gain automatic entry at the venue stage. Lu lost 6–2 to Stephen Maguire in the first round of the UK and 4–0 to Ricky Walden at the Welsh.[13] He was placed world number 114 after his first season as a professional.[14]

2015–16 season

It was a similar story in the 2015/2016 season as Lu only reached the UK Championship and Welsh Open, losing in the first round of both.[15] He was relegated from the tour at the end of the season due to being ranked 101st in the world, well outside of the top 64.[16]

2018–19 season

Lu won his place on the snooker tour back for the 2018/19 season at the second event of 2018 Q School,[17] losing only 7 frames in six matches. He stated that he felt 'mentally ready' to resurrect his professional career after two years playing only on the Chinese tour.

He reached his first last 16 in the Northern Ireland Open, beating Craig Steadman, Alan McManus and Hammad Miah, before losing to David Gilbert. He repeated the feat in next tournament, the UK Championship, where he beat Anthony McGill, Mark Joyce and Luca Brecel, before losing 6–5 to Tom Ford despite missing several chances to win.[18]

In February, Lu reached his first ranking quarter-final at the Indian Open, beating Robert Milkins, Liam Highfield, Yan Bingtao and Stuart Bingham, before losing to eventual champion Matt Selt. The win against Bingham featured an amazing final frame clearance including a fluked blue and a fortunate kiss on the black.

In the following tournament, the Gibraltar Open, Lu went one better, beating three amateurs and professionals Shaun Murphy and Tian Pengfei before losing to defending champion Ryan Day. This semi-final lifted him inside the top 50 on the one-year ranking list.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20		 2020/
21		 2021/
22		 2022/
23
Ranking[19][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 114 [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 65 51 35 34
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR WD F
European Masters Tournament Not Held A A LQ 1R 1R LQ LQ
British Open Tournament Not Held QF 2R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A A 4R 1R 2R 2R 1R
UK Championship A A A 1R 1R A A 4R 2R SF 1R LQ
Scottish Open NH MR Tournament Not Held A A 3R 3R 3R LQ LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held A A 1R 2R 2R 2R WD
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 2R DNQ WD[nb 4]
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event A A 1R 2R A 1R A
German Masters A A A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Welsh Open A A A 1R 1R A A 1R 1R 1R 1R A
Players Championship[nb 5] A DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ
WST Classic Tournament Not Held A
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ A
Non-ranking tournaments
Championship League A A A A A A A A A A RR A
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NR WR 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A WR WR LQ LQ A A Non-Ranking Tournament Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event A A 3R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Not Held A LQ NH A A QF Tournament Not Held
China Open 2R WR A LQ LQ A A 3R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 6] Tournament Not Held Minor-Ranking A A LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
International Championship NH 1R A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR A LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
World Open[nb 7] 1R WR A Not Held A A LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 3R NH
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A A SF 3R QF 2R NH
Non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Tournament Not Held Minor-Ranking 3R 2R A 4R NH A NH
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 #R 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. 1 2 3 4 5 He was an amateur
  3. 1 2 New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ↑ Lu was initially eligible to enter the World Grand Prix as he was in the Top 32 of the one-year ranking list at the cut-off point. However, he was suspended by the WPBSA before the cut-off point and thus he was withdrawn from participating in the tournament.
  5. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013)
  6. ↑ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  7. ↑ The event was called the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2022 Championship League Belgium Luca Brecel 1–3

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2013 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship China Zhou Yuelong 9–4

References

  1. ↑ "Holt Bares Teeth To Escape Zhu". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 "UK Championship winner Zhao latest to be suspended". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  3. ↑ Huart, Matt (2023-01-18). "WPBSA Statement | 18 January 2023". WPBSA. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  4. ↑ "2012 Haikou World Open results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Lu Ning 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Shaun Murphy loses to Lu Ning in China Open first round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "2012 China Open results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Lu Ning 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Asian Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "IBSF Snooker Championships U21 - Beijing China 2013 Knockout draw". IBSF. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Lu Ning 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Lu Ning crowned World Under-21 Champ". IBSF. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "Lu Ning 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Lu Ning 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "Brown Earns Tour Return". 25 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Luca Brecel éliminé au troisième tour de l'UK Championship". 3 December 2018.
  19. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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