Ma Hailong Explained

Ma Hailong
Birth Date:2003 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Guilin, Guangxi, China
Professional:2023–present
High Ranking:76 (July 2024)
Best Finish:Last 16 (2023 British Open)

Ma Hailong (; born 4 September 2003) is a snooker player from China. In February 2023, he won the 2023 World Snooker Federation Championship, and with it earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour.

Early life

At the age of thirteen, Ma Hailong took six months out of school in order to travel the 1000 miles from his home to train at the CBSA World Snooker Academy in Beijing.[1]

Career

In January 2023, at the Guangzhou Snooker Championship, Ma Hailong defeated Jiang Jun in the final to win the championship.[2]

In February 2023 Ma Hailong defeated Stan Moody in the final of the WSF Championship in Sydney, Australia where the win secured him the offer of a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour.[3] [4] On the way to victory in the tournament he defeated Liu Hongyu and former professional Gao Yang.[5] It was his first overseas tournament outside of China.[6] Previously a student at the CBSA Academy branch in Guangdong, after his win it was reported he was planning to move to the United Kingdom to be managed by Bobby Lee and Elite Sports Management.[7]

He entered into the invitational 2023 Six-red World Championship held in Pathum Thani, Thailand in March 2023.[8]

2023/24

He was entered into the draw draw at the 2023 Championship League held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England from 26 June 2023. He went unbeaten in his round-robin stage, earning draws against Mink Nutcharut, John Astley and Gary Wilson.[9] [10] In August 2023, he defeated Ian Burns to qualify for the latter rounds of the 2023 British Open.[11] At the event, held in Cheltenham in September 2023, he reached the last-16 of a ranking event for the first time.[12] At the 2023 Northern Ireland Open he defeated 12th seed Ryan Day in a deciding frame.[13]

In November 2023, he was on the receiving end of a maximum 147 break at the 2023 UK Championship in a 6–1 defeat by compatriot Xu Si.[14] In the first round of qualifying for the 2024 World Snooker Championship he defeated Brazilian Victor Sarkis 10-1.[15] In the second round, he overcame Englishman Martin O'Donnell 10-7.[16]

2024/25

In June 2024, he made a successful start to the 2024-25 snooker season at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester, topping his round-Robin group that contained former world champion John Higgins.[17]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament2022/
23
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking[18] [19] [20] [21] 77
Ranking tournaments
Championship LeagueARR2R
Xi'an Grand PrixNot Held1R
Saudi Arabia MastersNot Held
English OpenALQ
British OpenA3R
Wuhan OpenNHLQLQ
Northern Ireland OpenA1R
International ChampionshipNHLQ
UK ChampionshipALQ
Shoot OutA1R
Scottish OpenALQ
German MastersALQ
Welsh OpenA1R
World OpenNHLQ
World Grand PrixDNQDNQ
Players ChampionshipDNQDNQ
Tour ChampionshipDNQDNQ
World ChampionshipLQLQ
Former ranking tournaments
European MastersALQNH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World ChampionshipRRNot Held
Performance Table Legend
LQlost in the qualifying draw
  1. R
lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament
DNQdid not qualify for the tournamentAdid not participate in the tournamentWDwithdrew 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.

Career finals

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Inside China's snooker hothouse: The kids ditching school in search of their big break. uk.news.yahoo.com. Katie. Stallard. June 11, 2017. March 5, 2023.
  2. Web site: Guangzhou Snooker Championship holds classic crowd events and returns to Liwan. March 5, 2023. January 4, 2023. mbd.baidu.com.
  3. Web site: Stan Moody Denied by Ma Hai Long in World Amateur Final as Teenage Snooker Due Secure Professional Tour Cards . March 5, 2023. Eurosport.
  4. Web site: Ma Beats Moody to Win WSF Title . https://web.archive.org/web/20230212022825/https://wst.tv/ma-beats-moody-to-win-wsf-title/ . dead . 12 February 2023 . March 5, 2023. wst.tv.
  5. Web site: Ma Hailong earns professional main tour card. February 10, 2023. March 5, 2023. Snooker HQ.
  6. Web site: Age proves no barrier as young guns dominate amateur world snooker titles in western Sydney. abc.net.au. February 12, 2023. March 5, 2023.
  7. Web site: Magic Ma Wins WSF Championship! . World Snooker Federation. February 11, 2023. March 5, 2023.
  8. Web site: Six-red World Championship Snooker 2023 – Latest Scores, Results, Schedule Order of Play, Ronnie O'Sullivan in Action . March 6, 2023. March 6, 2023. Eurosport.
  9. Web site: Championship League Snooker 2023. Championship League Snooker. June 26, 2023 .
  10. Web site: Astley and Liu complete stage two line up. https://web.archive.org/web/20230715060107/https://wst.tv/astley-and-liu-complete-stage-two-line-up/. dead. 15 July 2023. wst.tv. 14 July 2023. 15 July 2023.
  11. Web site: Stephen Hendry loses in British Open qualifier. Snookerhq. 15 August 2023. David. Caulfield. August 14, 2023.
  12. Web site: CAZOO BRITISH OPEN – LAST 16 DRAW. https://web.archive.org/web/20230927191239/https://wst.tv/cazoo-british-open-last-16-draw/. dead. 27 September 2023. wst.tv. 27 September 2023. 28 September 2023.
  13. Web site: NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN 2023: JUDD TRUMP BEATS JENSON KENDRICK, NEIL ROBERTSON OVERCOMES SCORE MALFUNCTION AND WU YIZE. Eurosport. 22 October 2023. 22 October 2023. James. Hilsum.
  14. Web site: Eurosport. 20 November 2023. UK CHAMPIONSHIP SNOOKER - MARCO FU HITS TWO CENTURIES TO ADVANCE, XU RECORDS MAGICAL 147 BREAK, MINK DEFEAT. 20 November 2023.
  15. Web site: WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP: FERGAL O'BRIEN BRINGS CURTAIN DOWN ON 33-YEAR CAREER AFTER DEFEAT IN CRUCIBLE QUALIFIER . Eurosport. 9 April 2024. 10 April 2024.
  16. Web site: Marco Fu – ‘I’m not going to pull out, no matter what’. David. Caulfield. April 13, 2024. 14 April 2024.
  17. Web site: Eurosport. 25 June 2024. JOHN HIGGINS SUFFERS EARLY EXIT AT CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER, GARY WILSON REACHES LAST 32. 25 June 2024.
  18. Web site: Ranking History. Snooker.org. 6 February 2011.
  19. Shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  20. He was an amateur
  21. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking