By Elliott West
Shaun Liu’s X account quote.
“Passionate snooker player, pursuing dreams on the green baize”.
Introduction
Youngblood drives snooker and it is always exciting when I see a young snooker player burst onto our television screens. To be honest I hadn’t seen Shaun Liu play before until he entered this year’s BetVictor Snooker Shootout but this 13-year-old from Hong Kong has the makings of a player that could be highly successful. I don’t say that lightly because there have been plenty of snooker players who have been tipped for the top and who have crashed and burned. However, a gut feeling tells me that Shaun who comes from a snooker hotbed that has already produced the likes of Marco Fu and Ng On-Yee has some major silverware in his sights.
This young lad with bundles of talent was granted a wildcard to play in Swansea after having won the English Under-14 Championship earlier this year, beating Nicholas Ayers 4-0 in the final at the Ladywood Sbooker Club as a 12-year-old and was named by his parents after Shaun Murphy. Although born in Hong Kong, he made the brave move like a number of Asian players to up roots and move to Sheffield, where he is now developing his game at the Ding Junhui Academy. Liu has composure, flair and bags of natural talent. When he gets a chance in a frame, he doesn’t look phased and has a confident strut around the table.
The Next Generation
Shaun is already breaking records by becoming the youngest-ever winner of a televised ranking event match. Having only turned 13 in July 2023, Liu beats the previous record set by Vladislav Gradinari who was 14 when he won a match in the same tournament last season. In his first-round match at the Shootout against Ishpreet Singh Chanha, he initially trailed 36-0 in the match but made a brilliant break of 44 to win the match. His talented Indian opponent had a chance to win but ran out of time when he trailed 52-57 but went on to lose to this Hong Kong phenomenon 57-54. He would go on to lose to Dean Young in the second round 41-28. Shaun first started playing snooker when he was months old and started on a toy pool table before progressing to a full-size snooker table when he was seven with the aid of a chair. A player who feels successful by making a heavy break, achieving a successful safety shot or making a heavy break or century. A perfectionist who knows that one error could lose him a frame or match.
Shaun has already played alongside Marco Fu who has won the Hong Kong Masters three times and Ka-Chun, Jer Lau and Tiger Lau, members of the Hong Kong boy band mirror at an exhibition event in 2021. He is now setting his sights on turning professional. A player who already has many of the strands required to hit the big time and is definitely someone to watch out for. He is fascinating to watch and highly like to be another Chinese star of the future. An exciting prospect and someone who snooker welcomes with open arms.
