| Liu Hongyu | |
| Birth Date: | 21 April 2004 |
| Birth Place: | Taishan, Guangdong, China[1] |
| Professional: | 2023–present |
| High Ranking: | 63 (December 2024) |
| Best Finish: | Semi-final (2023 English Open) |
Liu Hongyu (; born 21 April 2004) is a Chinese snooker player. He won the APBSF Asia-Pacific Championship on 1 May 2023 to qualify for the World Snooker Tour, on a two-year card, starting from the 2023–24 snooker season.
Liu is from Taishan in the Guangdong province of China.[2]
At the 2022 Q School first event defeated Belgian Ben Mertens which included a break of 137.[3] He also scored centuries in Q school against Alfie Lee, and a 134 against Andy Milliard.[4]
In February 2023 he lost in the quarter finals to eventual winner Ma Hailong at the WSF Championship in Sydney, Australia.[5] During the tournament he had impressed with his high scoring, including breaks of 138 and 133.[6]
In April 2023 Liu lost in the final of the first CBSA World Snooker Tour qualifying tournament to Jiang Jun.[7] The following month he won the Asia-Pacific Championship with a 6-1 win in the final against Yuchen Wang to be the APBSF Asia Pacific qualifier on to the World Snooker Tour for the 2023-24 snooker season, on a two-year card.[8] [9]
He started the 2023-24 season with the 2023 Championship League held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England from 26 June 2023.[10] With victories over Ricky Walden, David Lilley and Peng Yisong, Liu topped his group at the Championship League on his tour debut.[11] In the second stage round-robin, he lost to Noppon Saengkham before beating Ashley Carty and drawing with Daniel Wells to finish as runner-up in the group to Saengkham.[12] He earned another professional win on 17 August 2023, at the British Open qualifying in Leicester, with a 4-1 win over Baipat Siripaporn.[13] He qualified for the 2023 European Masters, held in Germany, but had to pull out of the event when an issue with his visa prevented his travel.[14]
In October 2023, at the English Open, he came from 3-1 down to defeat former World Champion Shaun Murphy 4-3.[15] He followed this up with credible wins over ranking event finalist Joe O'Connor and former snooker shoot-out winner Chris Wakelin before defeating another former world champion Mark Williams to reach his first ranking event quarter-final. He then triumphed over compatriot Ding Junhui to reach his first ranking semi-final,[16] before losing to Zhang Anda by 2-6.[17] In December 2023, he recorded a second win of the season over Shaun Murphy, winning 4-1 at the Scottish Open.[18] He qualified for the 2024 German Masters in Berlin with a 5-0 whitewash over the experienced Dominic Dale.[19]
In the qualifying round of the 2024 World Snooker Championship he defeated Jimmy White 10-3.[20] [21]
He reached the fourth round of the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with a 4-1 win over Ricky Walden.[22] At the 2024 English Open in Brentwood in September 2024 he reached the last 64 where he was defeated on a deciding frame by Judd Trump.[23] [24] He reached the last-64 at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open.[25]
| Tournament | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[26] | [27] | 67 | |||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| Championship League | 2R | RR | |||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | NH | LQ | |||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | NH | 5R | |||||||
| English Open | SF | 1R | |||||||
| British Open | 1R | LQ | |||||||
| Wuhan Open | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | LQ | 1R | |||||||
| International Championship | LQ | 1R | |||||||
| UK Championship | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| Shoot Out | 1R | 1R | |||||||
| Scottish Open | 2R | LQ | |||||||
| German Masters | 1R | ||||||||
| Welsh Open | LQ | ||||||||
| World Open | 1R | ||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | ||||||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | ||||||||
| Tour Championship | DNQ | ||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | ||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| European Masters | WD | NH | |||||||
| Performance Table Legend | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw |
| 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. | ||||