Yu Delu

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yu (于).
Yu Delu
Paul Hunter Classic 2016
Born (1987-10-11) October 11, 1987 (age 37)
Shanxi, China
Sport country China
Professional2011–2018
Highest ranking43 (May 2018)
Best ranking finishSemi-final (x1)
Medal record
Representing  China
Men's snooker
East Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2009 Hong Kong Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Hong Kong Team
Men's six-red snooker
East Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Hong Kong Singles

Yu Delu (Chinese: 于德陆; born 11 October 1987) is a former professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China. He is currently serving a 10 years and 9 months ban for match-fixing from 25 May 2018 until 24 February 2029.[1] The ban was announced on 1 December 2018 after the result of a lengthy investigation.[2]

Career

Early career

Yu made his first appearance at the China Open as a wild card in 2006. He defeated Andrew Norman, before losing to Graeme Dott in the last 32.[3] He was awarded a wild card for every China Open event between 2006 and 2011, and for the first three Shanghai Masters events in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

He recorded a maximum break during a China Snooker Professional Tour event in ZhengZhou against Jin Long on 20 September 2009. This made him the first person to score a 147 on the China Professional Tour. However, it is not recorded by World Snooker Association.

Debut season

He was awarded a place on the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as a wildcard by World Snooker. In Yu's first ranking event qualifier, the Australian Goldfields Open he beat Michael White 5–4, Joe Swail 5–1 and Joe Jogia 5–2 before losing in the final qualifying round 5–0 to Ryan Day.[4] Later in the season, he came through three qualifying matches to reach the wild-card round of the German Masters where he beat Chris Norbury 5–3.[5] The result meant that he played in the main draw of a ranking event outside of China for the first time. Yu drew compatriot Ding Junhui in the last 32 and pulled off the result of his career to date as he won the first three frames before once again closing out the match 5–3. He couldn't replicate his form in the last 16, however, as he was beaten 2–5 by Stephen Lee.[6]

Yu reached the final qualifying round in three of the last four ranking events, losing to Andrew Higginson in the World Open and to seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry in both the China Open and World Championship.[4] He was therefore one of the Scot's last opponents before his retirement.[7]

Yu also had a good season in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship series as he played in 11 of the 12 events, picking up two quarter-finals and two last 16 finishes to be placed 34th on the PTC Order of Merit.[8] He finished his debut season ranked world number 58, inside the top 64 who guarantee their places for the 2012–13 season. Yu was also the highest ranked out of all the new players on the tour.[9]

2012/2013 season

Yu had a disappointing 2012/2013 season as he could not qualify for any of the ranking events.[10] He played in nine of the ten Players Tour Championship during the year, with his best finishes being three last 32 defeats to see him placed 63rd on the Order of Merit.[11] Yu did have an upturn in form in World Championship Qualifying, by defeating Ian Burns 10–2 and Jamie Burnett 10–6.[10] His break of 140 against Burnett was the joint highest of his career to date and the second highest of the qualifying tournament.[12] Yu faced Mark King, just one match away from reaching the Crucible for the first time, and led 8–6 and 9–8, but lost the 18th frame on the colours and the deciding frame to be defeated 9–10.[13] His ranking increased 11 places during the year to end it at world number 47.[14]

2013/2014 season

Yu lost in the first round of both the Indian Open and Shanghai Masters, before winning his first match in a ranking event at the UK Championship with a 6–3 victory over David Grace.[15] His second round match against Matthew Stevens went into a deciding frame which lasted 40 minutes and hinged on a safety battle that Stevens won on the final pink.[16] Yu played in all four of the Asian Tour events and lost 4–1 to Alan McManus in the quarter-finals of the Yixing Open, with his only frame coming courtesy of a 117 break.[15] At the final event, the Dongguan Open, Yu advanced to the semi-finals where he was beaten 4–2 by Liang Wenbo. His results saw him finish ninth on the Asian Order of Merit to claim the final spot in the Players Tour Championship Finals.[17] There, he exacted revenge over Wenbo by winning their first round clash 4–2. He recorded the best result of his career to date in the next round by restricting reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan to just two points from 3–2 down to win 4–3.[18] In Yu's first ranking event quarter-final of his career, he was unable to recapture his prior form and was beaten 4–1 by Barry Hawkins.[19] Yu continued his recent good play into the China Open with wins against Duane Jones and James Wattana to face Neil Robertson in the third round.[15] The match lasted four hours with Yu just being edged out 5–4.[20]

2014/2015 season

Yu lost in the quarter-finals of the Yixing Open for the second year in a row, this time 4–1 to Ryan Day. He qualified for the Wuxi Classic but was beaten 5–4 by Yan Bingtao in the wildcard round, and lost 6–1 to Shaun Murphy in the opening round of the International Championship.[21] Yu recorded his first win of the year at a ranking event by knocking out Oliver Lines 6–2 in the UK Championship and, though he led 3–0, he would be beaten 6–4 by Stephen Maguire in the second round.[22][23] He received a bye through to the second round of the Welsh Open and was thrashed 4–0 by Joe Perry.[21] In Yu's deciding frame of his first round match at the Indian Open he led Ben Woollaston 67–0, before the Englishman made a 67 break and won the respotted black.[24] Yu closed out the season with a 5–3 loss to John Higgins in the first round of the China Open and reached the final round of World Championship qualifying where he was defeated 10–7 by Graeme Dott.[25]

2015/2016 season

A 6–1 victory over Chris Melling saw Yu qualify for the International Championship and he knocked out reigning world champion Stuart Bingham 6–2 in the first round.[26] He was edged out 6–5 by Ben Woollaston in the next round. Another second round exit followed at the UK Championship, 6–0 at the hands of Marco Fu.[27] A trio of deciding frame victories over Ian Glover, Ricky Walden and Dechawat Poomjaeng saw Yu reach the last 16 of the Welsh Open, his deepest run a ranking event this season, and he lost 4–1 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.[28] In the first round of the China Open Yu lost 5–2 to Fu and he fell at the first hurdle in World Championship qualifying 10–9 to Paul Davison.[27] He just held on to his top 64 ranking and therefore his tour place as he was 63rd in the world.[29]

2016/2017 season

Yu could not win a first round match in the 2016–17 season until the ninth event when he beat Ding Junhui 4–2 at the Northern Ireland Open, before losing 4–1 to Robbie Williams. He reached the third round of the UK Championship by defeating Nigel Bond 6–3 and Stuart Bingham 6–4, but lost 6–1 to Luca Brecel.[30] At the Scottish Open, Yu reached the semi-finals for the first time in his career in a ranking tournament, beating Josh Boileau, Mark Joyce, Daniel Wells, Sean O'Sullivan and Liang Wenbo, all in final frame deciders. He was defeated by Marco Fu, the eventual winner of the tournament, 6–1 in the semi-finals.[31] Yu was eliminated 5–3 by Michael White in the first round of the China Open and got through to the final World Championship qualifying round, but lost 10–7 to Martin Gould.[30]

2018/2019 season

On 25 May 2018, he was suspended from the tour for suspected match fixing.[32] After a lengthy investigation, Yu was found guilty of match fixing and received a ban for 10 years and 9 months on 1 December 2018.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournaments 2005/
06 		2006/
07 		2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19
Rankings[33][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 58 47 52 52 63 47 43[34]
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 4] Tournament Not Held MR LQ WD A
World Open[nb 5] A A A A A A LQ LQ 1R Not Held WD 1R A
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 6] Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R A
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ A
European Masters Tournament Not Held 1R LQ A
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R A
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R 2R LQ 1R A
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 2R 2R A
UK Championship A A A A A A LQ LQ 2R 2R 2R 3R 2R A
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held MR Not Held SF 2R A
German Masters Tournament Not Held A 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R A
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open A A A A A A LQ LQ 1R 2R 4R 1R QF A
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event A A A
Indian Open Tournament Not Held WD 1R NH LQ 2R A
Players Championship[nb 7] Tournament Not Held A DNQ DNQ QF DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A 4R A
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ
China Open 1R 1R WR 1R WR WR LQ LQ 3R 1R 1R 1R LQ A
World Championship A A A A A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A
Non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 8] Not Held A A RR NH A A A A A A A
Haining Open Tournament Not Held MR 2R SF A
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic[nb 9] Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ 1R WR Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ A Not Held
Shanghai Masters Not Held 1R WR WR A LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 2R NR
Former non-ranking tournaments
Hainan Classic Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 9] Not Held A A 1R QF Ranking Event Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out Tournament Not held A A 1R A A 1R Ranking Event
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.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b c d e f He was an amateur.
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  4. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  5. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (2005/2006–2009/2010), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  6. ^ The event was called the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  7. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  8. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
  9. ^ a b The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)

References

  1. ^ "WPBSA Statement". December 2018.
  2. ^ "WPBSA Statement: Cao Yupeng and Yu Delu". Word Snooker. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Star Dragon Woods Villa Cup China Open 2006". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Yu Delu 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  5. ^ "2012 German Masters Results". Snooker Database. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  6. ^ "German Masters scores and match schedule". BBC Sport.
  7. ^ "Stephen Hendry 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Order of Merit". WWW Snooker. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Yu Delu 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers Centuries". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  13. ^ "White Denied By Milkins". World Snooker. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  15. ^ a b c "Yu Delu 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  16. ^ "Ding Junhui beats James Wattana at UK Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Asian Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  18. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan goes out to Yu Delu in Players' Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  19. ^ "Players' Championship: Judd Trump beats Joe Perry in quarters". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  20. ^ "China Open 2014: Neil Robertson survives scare to reach quarters". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Yu Delu 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Oliver wants more from father Lines in O'Sullivan showdown". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  23. ^ "Robertson Survives Wilson Scare". World Snooker. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Jones puts out fancied Wenbo in Indian Open Snooker". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  25. ^ "World Championship: Ken Doherty goes out to Mark Davis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  26. ^ "Bingham Falls to Delu". World Snooker. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  27. ^ a b "Yu Delu 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  28. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan wins at Welsh Open but John Higgins is out". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  29. ^ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  30. ^ a b "Yu Delu 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  31. ^ "Fu Sets Up Higgins Final". World Snooker. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  32. ^ "WPBSA Statement - Cao Yupeng and Yu Delu". 25 May 2018.
  33. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  34. ^ He is currently serving a 10 years and 9 months ban for match-fixing from 25 May 2018 until 24 February 2029.
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