Zhou Yuelong
Zhou at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1998-01-24) 24 January 1998
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Sport country China
NicknameThe Jumping Dragon[1]
Professional2014–present
Highest ranking17 (February–March 2021)
Current ranking 21 (as of 18 December 2023)
Maximum breaks2
Century breaks201 (as of 16 January 2024)
Best ranking finishRunner-up (×3)
Medal record
Representing  China
Men's Snooker
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Ashgabat Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Ashgabat Team

Zhou Yuelong (Chinese: 周跃龙; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open.

Career

Between 2011 and 2014, Zhou was regularly selected to play in the wildcard round of Chinese ranking events. He could only win two of the nine he played in and was knocked out in the first round in both of those. Zhou won the 2013 IBSF World Snooker Championship which enabled him to join the snooker tour for the 2014–15 season.[2]

2014/2015 season

Zhou turned pro in 2014. His first win as a professional came at attempt number one as he defeated Alfie Burden 5–3 to qualify for the 2014 Wuxi Classic, where he lost 5–3 to Graeme Dott in the first round.[3] Zhou defeated compatriot Liang Wenbo 6–2 to qualify for the International Championship and won his first ever match at a ranking event by eliminating Chris Melling 6–1, before being edged out 6–5 by Ricky Walden.[4] He made his debut in a ranking event outside China at the UK Championship, but lost 6–1 to Jimmy Robertson in the first round.[3] At the minor-ranking Xuzhou Open, Zhou saw off Barry Pinches to reach the quarter-finals where Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beat him 4–2. This helped him finish 15th on the Order of Merit.[5] Zhou's second last 32 appearance at a ranking event this season came at the China Open and, after winning the first two frames, he lost 5–2 to David Gilbert.[6] He was the world number 75 after his debut season on tour.[7]

It’s unbelievable – fantastic. It’s a huge tournament for us. Our dreams were to become champions since we first picked up the cue – and now they have come true. It’s very unexpected. Our goal was to make the knock out stage because we were in a tough group. After the group stage we realised that we had a good chance if we could play our best, so the confidence just built match by match.

Zhou after winning the Snooker World Cup.[8]

Zhou was selected to take part in the non-ranking 2015 Snooker World Cup with 15-year old Yan Bingtao as part of China's "B" team; China were allowed a second team as the hosts. They were 50/1 outsiders but topped their group, knocking out England in the process, and then in the knock-out stages beat Australia, Wales and Scotland in the final and pocketed a cheque of US$200,000 between them. Defeated finalist Stephen Maguire stated that he believed he had watched two future world champions.[8]

2015/2016 season

Zhou saw off Sam Baird 6–4 to qualify for the 2015 International Championship and beat Martin Gould 6–2 and Sanderson Lam 6–0 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, where he lost 6–5 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.[9] His World Cup win gained him entry into the Champion of Champions and he edged out reigning world champion Stuart Bingham 4–3, before losing 6–3 to Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals.[10] In the UK Championship Zhou defeated Craig Steadman 6–3, before exiting 6–1 in the second round to Shaun Murphy. He qualified for the China Open and lost 5–2 to John Higgins in the opening round.[11] Zhou almost played in the World Championship for the first time, but was defeated in the final qualifying round 10–7 by compatriot Zhang Anda.[12] He entered the top 64 in the world rankings for the first time at the end of the season, as he was 54th.[13]

2016 Paul Hunter Classic

2016/2017 season

Zhou got to the last 16 of the 2016 International Championship with wins over Anthony McGill and Mark Joyce, but lost 6–2 to John Higgins. He progressed through to the same stage of the UK Championship by defeating his World Cup partner Yan Bingtao 6–5 and was beaten 6–2 by Shaun Murphy.[14] Zhou dropped just two frames in four matches at the Welsh Open to reach his first ranking event quarter-final, but was whitewashed 5–0 by Scott Donaldson.[15] He beat Christopher Keogan 10–5, Ian Preece 10–8 and Ben Woollaston 10–9 to qualify for his first World Championship and said he hoped to draw Ronnie O'Sullivan in the opening round.[16] Instead he faced Ding Junhui and was defeated 10–5.[17] Zhou broke in to the top 32 in the world rankings for the first time at the end of the season.[18]

2017/2018 season

Zhou reached the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time at the European Masters. He defeated Robbie Williams, Oliver Lines, Michael Georgiou, Peter Lines, and Anthony McGill, before losing 6–4 to Stuart Bingham.[19] He has also reached the final of the Championship League (it was a non-ranking event), but lost 3–2 to John Higgins.[20]

2018/2019 season

In his match against Lyu Haotian at the Indian Open, Zhou made his first official maximum break in the fourth frame, but eventually lost the match 3–4.[21] Zhou also qualified for the World Snooker Championship again after beating Robin Hull, Liam Highfield, and Eden Sharav in the qualifying rounds. He recorded his first win in the tournament by defeating Mark Allen 10–7, but lost to Ali Carter 13–9 in the second round.[22][23]

2019/2020 season

In January 2020, Zhou reached his maiden ranking final at the European Masters after wins over Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins, and Gary Wilson. The semi-final against Wilson started at 8pm and finished after midnight in a deciding frame. The following day Zhou was beaten by Neil Robertson 9–0 in the final, becoming the second player ever to be whitewashed in a two-session ranking event final.[24] Zhou reached another ranking final in February, but lost to Michael Holt at the Shoot Out.[25]

With the outbreak of COVID-19, Zhou returned to his home in west China. Facing a multitude of travelling and quarantine complications, he did not return for the resumption of the season, and missed the World Championship. He finished the season ranked 25.

2020/2021 season

Zhou had a stellar performance in the UK Championship, reaching his first Triple Crown semi-final. After his win over John Higgins in the last 16, Higgins tipped him to become the next Chinese player to make a major breakthrough in snooker.[26] Zhou made his second maximum break of his career at the Scottish Open in his win over Peter Lines.[27]

At the World Championship Zhou, ranked 17, was the top seed in the qualification rounds. He beat Xu Si 6–5, after producing a remarkable clearance to level the scores 5-5. However, in the final qualifying round he lost to Liam Highfield 10–7. Zhou finished the season ranked 17.

2021/2022 season

Zhou reached the quarter-finals of the second ranking tournament of the season, the British Open, losing in the deciding frame to Elliot Slessor. However, the rest of his season was comparatively unsuccessful. He missed three ranking events early in the season, and only reached the last 16 twice, in the German Masters and the Turkish Masters, losing to Judd Trump on both occasions. After Ding Junhui's fall from the top 16 at the UK Championship, Zhou was expected to make his Masters debut in January, but was pipped by compatriot Zhao Xintong.[28] Zhou lost in the final qualifying round of the World Championship for the second year in a row to finish the season ranked 23, a drop of six places.

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		 2023/
24
Ranking[29][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 75 54 31 33 31 25 17 23 25
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event 3R WD RR 2R
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ SF 2R F 3R 2R 3R 2R
British Open Tournament Not Held QF 1R LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R WD 4R 3R QF WD LQ QF
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 2R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 3R 2R 4R 2R 2R LQ F LQ
International Championship NH 1R WR 2R 3R 3R LQ 2R 1R Not Held 2R
UK Championship A A A 1R 2R 4R 1R 3R 1R SF 3R 2R QF
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 1R 1R 1R F 4R 1R 4R 3R
Scottish Open NH MR Not Held 1R 3R 3R 1R 3R WD 3R SF
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ 1R 1R DNQ 2R
German Masters A A A LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R 2R LQ
Welsh Open A A A 1R 1R QF 1R 2R 1R 4R LQ LQ
Players Championship[nb 4] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ 1R
World Open[nb 5] WR A A Not Held 2R A 1R QF Not Held
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R A LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Ranking Event 2R A Not Held 1R
Champion of Champions Not Held A A QF A A A A A A A A
Championship League A A A A A A F A A 2R RR RR
Six-red World Championship NH A A A A A A 2R A Not Held RR
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NR 1R WR 1R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A WR WR LQ LQ LQ 2R Non-Ranking Not Held NR
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 1R A 1R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Not Held A 1R NH 1R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held
China Open WR WR A 2R 1R 2R 3R 1R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 6] Not Held Minor-Ranking 2R 1R 1R 2R Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR QF LQ 2R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 3R Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 3R 1R QF 2R 2R 3R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 3R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Macau Masters Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Haining Open Not Held Minor-Ranking 1R A A 4R 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. 1 2 3 He was an amateur
  3. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  5. ↑ The event was called the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  6. ↑ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 3

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2020 European Masters Australia Neil Robertson 0–9
Runner-up 2. 2020 Snooker Shoot Out England Michael Holt 0–1
Runner-up 3. 2022 Northern Ireland Open Northern Ireland Mark Allen 4–9

Non-ranking finals: 1

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2018 Championship League Scotland John Higgins 2–3

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2016 Fuzhou Open China Zhang Anda 1–5[30]
Winner 1. 2018 Zibo International Open China Yan Bingtao 5–2[31]

Team finals: 4 (2 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Team Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2015 World Cup  China B  Scotland 4–1
Runner-up 1. 2017 CVB Snooker Challenge  China  Great Britain 9–26
Winner 2. 2018 Macau Masters England Barry Hawkins
Wales Ryan Day
China Zhao Xintong		 Wales Mark Williams
England Joe Perry
Hong Kong Marco Fu
China Zhang Anda		 5–1
Runner-up 2. 2019 World Cup  China B  Scotland 0–4

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2013 IBSF World Under-21 Championship China Lu Ning 4–9
Winner 1. 2013 IBSF World Championship China Zhao Xintong 8–4

References

  1. ↑ "Zhou Yuelong". wst.tv. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Zhou Yuelong becomes world champion 2013". International Billiards and Snooker Federation. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Zhou Yuelong 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Three-Ton Rocket Crushes McGill". World Snooker. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Asian Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "David Gilbert 5–2 Zhou Yuelong". Love Snooker. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  8. 1 2 "China Win Snooker's World Cup". World Snooker. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Higgins Stuns Murphy in Last 16". World Snooker. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Wilson Wins Group Three". World Snooker. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "Zhou Yuelong 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Carter Thrilled by Crucible Return". World Snooker. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "Zhou Yuelong 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  15. ↑ "Scott Donaldson storms into Welsh Open semi-finals". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  16. ↑ "O'Brien Wins Record Two-Hour Frame". World Snooker. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "Ding Battles Past Zhou". World Snooker. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  18. ↑ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  19. ↑ "ZHOU YUELONG - STUART BINGHAM". www.eurosport.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  20. ↑ "Higgins Retains Championship League Title". WPBSA. 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  21. ↑ "Zhou Joins 147 Club". WPBSA. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  22. ↑ "World number six Allen falls to Zhou". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  23. ↑ "Tense shootout on black sees Carter through". BBC Sport. 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  24. ↑ "Robertson Whitewashes Zhou In Austria Final". WPBSA. 2020-01-26. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  25. ↑ "Holt Lands First Ranking Title". WPBSA. 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  26. ↑ "John Higgins talks up Zhou Yuelong after UK Championship defeat to youngster". ca.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  27. ↑ "Zhou Makes MK Maximum". WPBSA. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  28. ↑ "Sizzling Xintong Hammers Hawk". World Snooker. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  29. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  30. ↑ "Zhang Wins Chinese National Event". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  31. ↑ "Zibo Joy for Zhou". WST. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
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