Xing Zihao

In this Chinese name, the family name is Xing (邢).
Xing Zihao
Born (2004-11-06) 6 November 2004 (age 20)[1]
Sport country China
Professional2023–present
Highest ranking73 (September 2024)
Current ranking 74 (as of 16 December 2024)
Best ranking finishLast 16 (2023 Northern Ireland Open)

Xing Zihao (Chinese: 邢子豪) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has achieved a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour, starting with the 2023-24 snooker season.

Career

Xing Zihao trains at the International Billiards Academy in Yushan, east China.[2] He represented Yushan at the China Snooker Team Tournament in July 2022, alongside Bai Langning and Huang Jiahao.[3]

He won a place on the 2023-24 World Snooker Tour by successfully qualifying from the CBSA qualifying events held in Beijing in April 2023. His place was earned with a victory over former professional Lei Peifan in the final qualifying round.[4]

2023/24

Xing Zihao made his debut in a professional draw at the 2023 Championship League held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England from 26 June 2023. In his debut game he was defeated by experienced pro Anthony Hamilton but in the rest of the round-robin group stage drew with Ben Mertens and defeated Ryan Thomerson.[5][6]

At the 2023 Wuhan Open he benefited from a walkover when World Champion Luca Brecel pulled out of the event. However, he took advantage by defeating Michael White to reach the last-32 of a ranking event for the first time, where he was defeated by Stephen Maguire.[7][8] He qualified for the 2023 Northern Ireland Open with a 4-0 victory over David Grace.[9] He followed this by defeating former World Champion Graeme Dott to reach the last-32 at the second consecutive ranking event.[10]

At the 2023 UK Championship he beat veteran Jimmy White in the first qualifying round.[11] In the first round of qualifying at the 2024 World Snooker Championship he defeated veteran Michael Holt 10-6.[12]

2024/25

He made his season debut at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024, and won matches against amateur Joshua Thomond and rookie pro Kreishh Gurbaxani, before losing to Ali Carter to finish second in his round-robin group.[13] In July 2024, he defeated former world champion Stuart Bingham 5-1 in qualifying for the 2024 Wuhan Open.[14] He reached the third round of the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters where he was defeated by Bingham.[15]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2023/
24 		2024/
25
Ranking[16][nb 1] [nb 2] 76
Ranking tournaments
Championship League RR RR
Xi'an Grand Prix NH LQ
Saudi Arabia Masters NH 3R
English Open LQ LQ
British Open LQ LQ
Wuhan Open 2R 1R
Northern Ireland Open 3R LQ
International Championship LQ LQ
UK Championship LQ LQ
Shoot Out 1R 1R
Scottish Open 1R 3R
German Masters 1R LQ
Welsh Open LQ
World Open LQ
World Grand Prix DNQ
Players Championship DNQ
Tour Championship DNQ
World Championship LQ
Former ranking tournaments
European Masters LQ 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 WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. ^ Shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking

References

  1. ^ "Xing Zihao". snooker.org. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Professional colleges cultivate outstanding talents International Billiards Academy helps Xing Zihao realise dream of professional competition". xingpaibilliard.com. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  3. ^ "The snooker team match is on!Ding Junhui is aiming for the championship!Browning's team is finalized!Fan Zhengyi can expect". Min.news. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Xing and Long Earn WST Places". wpbsa.com. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  5. ^ "CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER 2023". Championship League Snooker. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Stevens and Hamilton through". wst.tv. 4 July 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  7. ^ Livie, Alex (6 October 2023). "WUHAN OPEN 2023: MARK WILLIAMS, LUCA BRECEL AND GRAEME DOTT WITHDRAW FROM RANKING EVENT IN CHINA". Eurosport. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Wuhan Open snooker 2023: Draw, results, odds & TV coverage details". Sporting Life. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Marco Fu, Joe Perry and Graeme Dott Continue Golden Run of Victories in Northern Ireland Open Snooker Qualifying". Eurosport. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  10. ^ Caulfield, David (24 October 2023). "Andres Petrov stuns Mark Allen in Belfast". SnookerHQ. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  11. ^ Caulfield, David (18 November 2023). "UK Championship qualifiers: 2023 draw, schedule, results, how to watch". Snooker HQ. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Davies makes winning start". WST. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Carter cruises through". wst.tv. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  14. ^ "WUHAN OPEN: LUCA BRECEL SUFFERS SHOCK EXIT IN LOSING TO WORLD NO. 100 DUANE JONES IN QUALIFYING". Eurosport. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  15. ^ "SAUDI ARABIA SNOOKER MASTERS: JIMMY WHITE'S RIYADH RUN ENDED BY SI JIAHUI; STUART BINGHAM & NEIL ROBERTSON PROGRESS". Eurosport. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.