By Elliott West
“Fantastic player. Brilliant, brilliant”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Introduction
Snooker is a highly unpredictable game as anyone knows who plays or just watches it avidly. However, I have always been cheered by an underdog story in my thirty-plus years of watching snooker. It is undeniable that the Chinese stable of players that we have on the door has been touted to do well on the main tour for several years. With the fading fortunes of its instigator Ding Junhui, it was only a matter of time before these players blossomed but it would have been hard to predict that this would lead to a series of new Chinese titles.
From Yan Bingtao winning the 2019 Riga Open and the 2021 Masters to Zhao Xintong winning the 2021 UK Championship and then the 2022 German Masters, this Chinese resurgence has been gathering pace in recent months. The latest snooker headline came this week during the staging of the European Masters in Milton Keynes. An event that looked likely to be claimed by Ronnie O’Sullivan despite a swathe of a number of tough matches.
However, I don’t think many people would have predicted the surprising outcome. Out of the snooker shadows, came a Chinese player that had to date a very uneventful season. It is of course the highly impressive, Fan Zhengyi who seemed not phased by his powerful opponent and stuck to his guns by taking Ronnie to a deciding frame. A lack of concentration led to O’Sullivan missing a mid-range red in the decider and then Fan worked his magic, producing a fluid and exciting break that carved out a 10-9 victory, £80,000 and his maiden title.
A Bolt from the Blue?
So where has this promising player come from? Now 21, Fan first broke onto the snooker scene when he won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2017 by beating Luo Honghao 7-6 in the final, a win that led to him turning professional the following year becoming the youngest player in the main tour, aged 17. This young man from Harbin in Heilongjiang, China, had a breakthrough season at the start of his professional career when he reached the quarter-finals of the 2022 German Masters where he was whitewashed 5-0 by Mark Allen after previously defeating Liam Highfield 5-2 and Andrew Higginson 5-3.
Fan who had first started playing snooker at the tender age of 5, switched hands between snooker and pool, playing well in the National Youth Snooker Championships, finishing fifth in the event and the age of 14, saw him travelling to Singapore, where he reached the final of the Cuesports Singapore Snooker Open, losing eventually to Marvin Lim 5-3 after leading the match at one stage 2-0. A period of time where he was coached by Roger Leighton from the age of 12, the head coach at the Wiraka Billiard Academy in Foshan, South China.
A One Hit Wonder?
It remains to be seen if Fan can kick on from his European Masters win. They do say though that you need that first title under your belt to build your confidence and produce future wins and titles. I personally don’t believe this victory was a fluke and how could it be? This Chinese player had fought off Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, David Gilbert and Graeme Dott to reach the final and is sheerly down to hard work with many late hours spent practicing at the superb Victoria Snooker Academy in Sheffield. An academy where anyone who has potential in Chinese snooker travels to.
A left-eye dominant player, Fan had to choose between playing snooker or table tennis in his youth, a difficult decision at this crossroads of his life. However snooker it was and time spent with Roger Leighton at the Wiraka Snooker Academy helped him on his career path. A career plan unusually caused him to avoid century breaks, wanting his first big break to be one of the 147 variety. Sadly this plan was soon ripped up despite nearly making one in his World Championship match against Zak Surety in 2021.
Accused of being somewhat emotionless in his hour of victory, this shy player who has travelled to reside in this country may have struggled with the language barrier but he has certainly proved that he doesn’t struggle with the green baize. A great start to his career and especially to take the European Masters title against Ronnie O’Sullivan in a deciding frame and having only previously won £66,000 in career winnings. A seismic and surprising victory that reminds me of when Bob Chaperon beat Alex Higgins 10-8 in the final of the 1990 British Open.
