Lu Ning

Lu Ning (Chinese: 鲁宁, born 1 January 1994 in Jilin) is a professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China.

Lu Ning
Paul Hunter Classic 2014
Born (1994-01-01) 1 January 1994
Jilin, China[1]
Sport country China
Professional2014–2016, 2018–
Highest ranking51 (June 2020)
Current ranking 51 (as of 17 August 2020)
Career winnings£89,117
Highest break140:
2019 UK Championship
Century breaks27
Best ranking finishSemi-finals (2019 Gibraltar Open)

Career

Lu's first appearance in a ranking tournament was in the wildcard round of the 2012 World Open, where he defeated 1996 British Open winner Nigel Bond 5–4 in Haikou. He met Mark Selby in the first round and, despite taking the first two frames, Lu lost 3–5.[2] Lu continued to show his talent in the next local ranking tournament, the 2012 China Open. He was awarded a wildcard to compete against Welsh player Jamie Jones, where Lu won 5–3.[3] He produced a tremendous match by knocking out 2005 world snooker champion Shaun Murphy by 5–2, with two centuries.[4] However, in the second round Ali Carter proved to be too tough for the Chinese player, winning 5–1.[5]

2012-13 Season

In the 2012/2013 season Lu was awarded a place in the wildcard round for five ranking events, losing at this stage in four of them.[6] At the International Championship he beat Barry Pinches 6–5, before losing in the first round 6–4 to Ricky Walden.[6] He played in all three of the new Asian Players Tour Championships, but could not advance beyond the third round in any of them to finish 45th on the Asian Order of Merit.[7]

2013-14 Season

In July 2013 he became the IBSF Under 21 World Champion, defeating Zhou Yuelong 9–4 in the final.[8] He came through the wildcard round of the Wuxi Classic by beating Adam Duffy 5–3, before losing 5–1 to Matthew Stevens.[9] His Under-21 title earned him a two-year main tour card starting with the 2014/2015 season.[10]

2014-15 Season

Lu failed to qualify for any ranking events besides the UK Championship and the Welsh Open for which all players on the tour gain automatic entry at the venue stage. Lu lost 6–2 to Stephen Maguire in the first round of the UK and 4–0 to Ricky Walden at the Welsh.[11] He was placed world number 114 after his first season as a professional.[12]

2015-16 Season

It was a similar story in the 2015/2016 season as Lu only reached the UK Championship and Welsh Open, losing in the first round of both.[13] He was relegated from the tour at the end of the season due to being ranked 101st in the world, well outside of the top 64.[14]

2018-19 Season

Lu won his place on the snooker tour back for the 2018/19 season at the second event of Q School in May 2018.[15] losing only 7 frames in six matches. He stated that he felt 'mentally ready' to resurrect his professional career after two years playing only on the Chinese tour.

He reached his first last 16 in the Northern Ireland Open, beating Craig Steadman, Alan McManus and Hammad Miah, before losing to David Gilbert. He repeated the feat in next tournament, the UK Championship, where he beat Anthony McGil, Mark Joyce and Luca Brecel, before losing 6–5 to Tom Ford despite missing several chances to win.[16]

In February, Lu reached his first ranking quarter-final at the Indian Open, beating Robert Milkins, Liam Highfield, Yan Bingtao and Stuart Bingham, before losing to eventual champion Matt Selt. The win against Bingham featured an amazing final frame clearance including a fluked blue and a fortunate kiss on the black.

In the following tournament, the Gibraltar Open, Lu went one better, beating three amateurs and professionals Shaun Murphy and Tian Pengfei before losing to defending champion Ryan Day. This semi-final lifted him inside the top 50 on the one-year ranking list.

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20
Ranking[17][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 114 [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 65
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 4] Not Held MR A A LQ 1R
International Championship NH 1R A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ
China Championship Tournament Not Held A A LQ 1R
English Open Tournament Not Held A A 1R 2R
World Open[nb 5] 1R WR A Not Held A A LQ 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A A 4R 1R
UK Championship A A A 1R 1R A A 4R 2R
Scottish Open NH MR Not Held A A 3R 3R
European Masters Tournament Not Held A A LQ 1R
German Masters A A A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Non-Ranking Event NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open A A A 1R 1R A A 1R 1R
Shoot-Out Non-Ranking Event A A 1R 2R
Players Championship[nb 6] A DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A A SF 3R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A LQ LQ A A LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Not Held MR 3R 2R A 4R
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic NR WR 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open A A A LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A WR WR LQ LQ A A Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event A A 3R NR
Indian Open Not Held A LQ NH A A QF NH
China Open 2R WR A LQ LQ A A 3R 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 #R withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. He was an amateur.
  3. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  4. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  5. The event was called the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  6. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2011/2012–2012/2013)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2013 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship Zhou Yuelong 9–4

References
  1. "Holt Bares Teeth To Escape Zhu". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  2. "2012 Haikou World Open results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  3. "Lu Ning 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  4. "Shaun Murphy loses to Lu Ning in China Open first round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  5. "2012 China Open results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  6. "Lu Ning 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  7. "Asian Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  8. "IBSF Snooker Championships U21 - Beijing China 2013 Knockout draw". IBSF. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  9. "Lu Ning 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  10. "Lu Ning crowned World Under-21 Champ". IBSF. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  11. "Lu Ning 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  12. "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  13. "Lu Ning 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  14. "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  15. http://www.worldsnooker.com/brown-earns-tour-return/
  16. https://www.rtbf.be/sport/dossier/actu-des-athletes-belges/detail_luca-brecel-elimine-au-troisieme-tour-de-l-uk-championship?id=10088725
  17. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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