Ma Hailong (Chinese: 马海龙; 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.
| Born | 4 September 2003 Guilin, Guangxi, China |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  China |
| Professional | 2023–present |
| Highest ranking | 72 (August 2024) |
| Current ranking | 73 (as of 28 October 2024) |
| Best ranking finish | Last 16 (2023 British Open) |
Early life
editAt 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
editIn 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
editHe was entered into the 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
editIn 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] He reached the last-16 at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open where he was defeated by Mark Williams.[18][19]
Performance and rankings timeline
edit| Tournament | 2022/ 23 |
2023/ 24 |
2024/ 25 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[20][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 77 | ||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| Championship League | A | RR | 2R | ||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Not Held | 1R | |||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Not Held | 2R | |||||||
| English Open | A | LQ | LQ | ||||||
| British Open | A | 3R | 1R | ||||||
| Wuhan Open | NH | LQ | LQ | ||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | A | 1R | 3R | ||||||
| International Championship | NH | LQ | LQ | ||||||
| UK Championship | A | LQ | |||||||
| Shoot Out | A | 1R | |||||||
| Scottish Open | A | LQ | |||||||
| German Masters | A | LQ | |||||||
| Welsh Open | A | 1R | |||||||
| World Open | NH | LQ | |||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| Tour Championship | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| European Masters | A | LQ | NH | ||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | RR | Not Held | |||||||
| 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. | |||
| PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. | |||
Career finals
editAmateur finals: 1 (1 title)
edit| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2023 | WSF Open |  Stan Moody
|
5–0 |
References
edit- ^ Stallard, Katie (11 June 2017). "Inside China's snooker hothouse: The kids ditching school in search of their big break". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Guangzhou Snooker Championship holds classic crowd events and returns to Liwan". mbd.baidu.com. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Stan Moody Denied by Ma Hai Long in World Amateur Final as Teenage Snooker Due Secure Professional Tour Cards". Eurosport. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Ma Beats Moody to Win WSF Title". wst.tv. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Ma Hailong earns professional main tour card". Snooker HQ. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Age proves no barrier as young guns dominate amateur world snooker titles in western Sydney". abc.net.au. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Magic Ma Wins WSF Championship!". World Snooker Federation. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Six-red World Championship Snooker 2023 – Latest Scores, Results, Schedule Order of Play, Ronnie O'Sullivan in Action". Eurosport. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
- ^ "Championship League Snooker 2023". Championship League Snooker. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Astley and Liu complete stage two line up". wst.tv. 14 July 2023. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ Caulfield, David (14 August 2023). "Stephen Hendry loses in British Open qualifier". Snookerhq. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "CAZOO BRITISH OPEN – LAST 16 DRAW". wst.tv. 27 September 2023. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ Hilsum, James (22 October 2023). "NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN 2023: JUDD TRUMP BEATS JENSON KENDRICK, NEIL ROBERTSON OVERCOMES SCORE MALFUNCTION AND WU YIZE". Eurosport. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ "UK CHAMPIONSHIP SNOOKER - MARCO FU HITS TWO CENTURIES TO ADVANCE, XU RECORDS MAGICAL 147 BREAK, MINK DEFEAT". Eurosport. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP: FERGAL O'BRIEN BRINGS CURTAIN DOWN ON 33-YEAR CAREER AFTER DEFEAT IN CRUCIBLE QUALIFIER". Eurosport. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ Caulfield, David (13 April 2024). "Marco Fu – 'I'm not going to pull out, no matter what'". Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ "JOHN HIGGINS SUFFERS EARLY EXIT AT CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER, GARY WILSON REACHES LAST 32". Eurosport. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ Caulfield, David (30 September 2024). "Full list of results at the Northern Ireland Open qualifiers". Snooker HQ. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ^ "Trump beats Hawkins to reach NI quarter finals". BBC Sport. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
- ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
External links
edit
- Ma Hailong at the World Snooker Tour
- Ma Hailong at snooker.org
