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Fan Zhengyi (Chinese: 范争一; born 27 January 2001) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2017, and turned professional in 2018. He had a breakthrough season in 2021–22 when he reached his first ranking quarter-final at the 2022 German Masters and then won his first ranking title at the 2022 European Masters, defeating then six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in the final. He became the fifth Chinese player to win a ranking title, following Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Yan Bingtao, and Zhao Xintong.
| Born | 27 January 2001 Harbin, Heilongjiang, China |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  China |
| Nickname | Fan-tastic[1] |
| Professional | 2018–present |
| Highest ranking | 29 (October 2023) |
| Current ranking | 49 (as of 11 November 2024) |
| Maximum breaks | 1 |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 1 |
Fan started playing snooker at the age of 5 in Harbin. Just one year later he finished 5th in the National Youth Pool Championships. When he was 8 he finished 3rd in the National Youth Snooker Championships.[2] A trip to Singapore at the age of 14 saw him reach the final of the 2015 Cuesports Singapore Snooker Open, losing to experienced local player Marvin Lim 5–3, after taking a 2–0 lead.[3]
Early career
In July 2017, Fan won five out of the last six frames to beat top seed Luo Honghao 7–6 and win the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship at the tournament held in China. With this victory he was awarded a two-year Main Tour card for the professional snooker tour.[4][5]
He competed at the 2018 World Snooker Team Cup representing China with Zhang Jiankang but they lost to India 2–3 in the Round of 16.[6]
2018–19 season
At just 17, Fan was the youngest player on the professional tour in 2018–19. His first match was a 4–1 loss to Jack Lisowski in the Riga Masters, and his first win was against his practice partner Lyu Haotian 6–5 in the International Championship. However, he could only manage one further win in the remainder of the season, which finished in a 10–5 loss to Chris Wakelin in the World Championship.
2019–20 season
Fan played in the 2019 China National Championship in Xi'an, seeded number 3, but lost in the 3rd round to Jin Long 4–2. He did however achieve the highest break in the competition of 143.
Fan's best performance in the 2019–20 season came in the English Open. After a close win against Riley Parsons 4–3, he faced Chris Wakelin. At 3-3 the match ended on a respotted black in the final frame. After easy misses by both players Fan potted it to reach the last-32 for the first time. His run was ended by Shaun Murphy 4–0.
In subsequent tournaments Fan had further victories against Zhou Yuelong and Peter Lines. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the snooker season was suspended. Fan Zhengyi was one of only 4 Chinese players to stay in the UK, but was unable to practice due to lockdown restrictions. He played in the rescheduled World Championship, and beat amateur Dylan Emery 6–4 in the first round. He produced a fine attacking display in the second round against Dominic Dale, but eventually lost 6-4 after having led 4–3. Thus his season finished ranked 92, which meant he was relegated from the tour.
In an attempt to regain his Tour Card, Fan entered the 2020 Q School. With 7 wins and no losses in the first event he was successful, beating two-time ranking event winner Michael White 4–2 in the final round, thus gaining entry to the 2020-21 and 2021-22 snooker seasons.
2020–21 season
Fan played in the very first match of the 2020-21 season, against Judd Trump in a Championship League group. He finished the group in 2nd place after beating David Lilley and drawing with Alan McManus. After that he had a run of 6 losses. His only win against a professional in match longer than best-of-5 frames was a 6-4 defeat of Zak Surety in the World Championship. He finished the season ranked 118.
2021–22 season
After the 2021 season, Fan returned to China for the first time in 18 months. He played in the China City teams event in Xi'an, playing for the local Shaanxi team alongside Zhao Xintong and Li Hang. They were beaten in the quarter-final by eventual winners, Shanghai.
His 2021–22 professional season began with 4 losses and 1 win, against amateur David Lilley. Fan then produced his first win against a top-20 player, beating Thepchaiya Un-nooh 5–3 in the first round of qualifying for the German Masters. He followed this up with a 5–4 win over Lu Ning to qualify for the main event, held at the Tempodrom in Berlin. He defeated opponents including Liam Highfield and Andrew Higginson, before a 0–5 loss to Mark Allen in the quarter-finals.
In the European Masters, Fan produced his best performance to date in a ranking tournament, defeating opponents including Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, David Gilbert, and Graeme Dott to reach his first ranking final.[7] He faced six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. Fan took two-frame leads at 4–2, 6–4, and 8–6, but O'Sullivan recovered to draw level each time. Fan took a 9–8 lead, but O'Sullivan again drew level to force a deciding frame. After O'Sullivan missed a long red in the decider, Fan made a 92 break to win the match 10–9 for his first ranking title. Fan became the fifth Chinese player to win a ranking event, after Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Yan, and Zhao Xintong.[8][9]
2022–23 season
In November 2022 Fan reached the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions event, held in Bolton, defeating Neil Robertson and Ryan Day in the process.[10]
In April 2023 Zhengyi defeated Stephen Maguire in the final qualifying round 10-6 to reach the World Snooker Championship, held at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield for the first time.[11] In the last 32 round of the World Championship Fan was defeated 10–5 by Mark Allen in a match disrupted by an environmental protest.[12]
2023–24 season
Fan started the season ranked 32, his highest ranking start to a season to date (he reached a ranking peak of 29 in October 2023). At the invitational Shanghai Masters, he recorded victories over Gary Wilson and Mark Allen, before losing 6–1 in the quarter-finals to Neil Robertson.[13]
His best ranking performances over the rest of the season were quarter-final appearances at the British Open and the German Masters (losing 5–1 to Mark Williams and 5–0 to Kyren Wilson respectively).[14][15] He was defeated in second qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship by compatriot Jiang Jun by a 10–8 scoreline.[16]
2024–25 season
He opened his season with two wins and a draw to top his round-robin group at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024.[17] At the 2024 English Open in Brentwood in September 2024, he made the first maximum break of his career in the final frame of his 4–2 win over Liam Pullen.[18][19][20] He backed-up that performance with a win over 16th seed Ryan Day.[21]
Fan has a very unusual technique. He is very left-eye dominant, and when playing the shot, his cue is to the left of his head. Before turning professional, he was a member of the Wiraka Snooker Academy and was coached by former professional Roger Leighton.[22]
Fan was also a promising table tennis player, but decided to concentrate on snooker.
During his first three years as a professional, he made no century breaks, despite being known as a heavy scorer in junior and amateur tournaments in China. In an interview with Liu Song he revealed that he deliberately avoided making them, wanting his first professional century to be a 147. He nearly achieved this in the World Championship against Zak Surety, but missed a difficult 13th red to a baulk pocket with the remaining balls in good positions. After this, he abandoned the plan.[23]
During the season, he lives in Sheffield. During his first 6 years as a professional, he practiced at the Victoria Academy, sharing a house with fellow professional snooker player Si Jiahui.[24] As of July 2024, he now practices at the Ding Junhui Academy.
| Tournament | 2016/ 17 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2020/ 21 |
2021/ 22 |
2022/ 23 |
2023/ 24 |
2024/ 25 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[25][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 92 | [nb 4] | 85 | 36 | 32 | 50 | ||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | RR | A | A | RR | 2R | |||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | LQ | |||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 3R | |||||||||||||
| English Open | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | LQ | 1R | 1R | 3R | ||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | QF | LQ | ||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | ||||||
| International Championship | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | Not Held | 1R | 1R | ||||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | LQ | 1R | LQ | ||||||
| Shoot Out | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | |||||||
| Scottish Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| German Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | QF | 1R | QF | |||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 3R | |||||||
| World Open | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | 2R | |||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| Tour Championship | Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||
| World Championship | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Ranking Event | 1R | A | Not Held | QF | A | |||||||||
| Champion of Champions | A | A | A | A | A | A | SF | A | A | ||||||
| Championship League | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | |||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Indian Open | A | A | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||
| China Open | 1R | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||
| Riga Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||
| China Championship | NR | LQ | LQ | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | RR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 2R | Not Held | ||||||||||||
| European Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | W | LQ | LQ | NH | ||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | A | A | A | A | Not Held | LQ | Not Held | ||||||||
| Haining Open | 2R | QF | 2R | A | NH | A | NH | A | 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. | |||
Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2022 | European Masters |  Ronnie O'Sullivan |
10–9 |
Pro-am finals: 1
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2015 | Singapore Snooker Open |  Marvin Lim |
3–5[3] |
Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship | Yuan Sijun |
2–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 2017 | World Under-21 Snooker Championship | Luo Honghao |
7–6 |
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