Lyu Haotian

Overall, Lyu could not recapture his form of last season as he won just two matches in three Asian Tour events and none in five European Tour events which contributed to his relegation from the snooker tour at the end of the season as he finished it 81st in the world rankings.

In a subsequent interview he reflected he had been too young, and had become lonely and disoriented living in England without speaking much English.

After the disappointment of relegation from the main tour, Lyu stopped playing snooker for 6 months.

His boyhood coach, Pang Weiguo, persuaded him that at 18 he still had a future in the game, and Lyu resumed 9-ball Pool and snooker.

He played in the Haining Open, where he overcame Mike Dunn 4–2, Sanderson Lam 4–1 and Ma Bing 4–2, before losing 4–1 to Ricky Walden in the fourth round.

Lyu Haotian (born 29 November 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player, notable for being one of the youngest snooker players to have played in professional tournaments, aged only 14.

He beat the likes of 2006 world champion Graeme Dott and 2013 Shanghai Masters runner-up Xiao Guodong, before losing 4–0 to Liang Wenbo having been edged out of the opening two frames.

Lyu was narrowly beaten 6–5 by Marcus Campbell in the first round of the UK Championship despite leading 3–1 at the interval.

His final in Asia saw him qualify for the Players Tour Championship Finals for the first time and he lost 4–1 to Mark Williams in the opening round.

Lyu ended his debut season on the main tour ranked world number 93.

At the UK Championship, Lyu defeated Cao Yupeng 6–4 before losing 6–1 to Marco Fu in the second round.

He qualified for the Indian Open thanks to a 4–2 win over Dominic Dale and, after coming through a wildcard match in New Delhi, he was eliminated 4–1 in the first round by Tian Pengfei.

On November 28, 2009, the day before his 11th birthday, he became China's youngest U18 champion by defeating Lyu Chenwei 4-2.

He reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 International Championship when he was aged 14, which is still the record in a ranking event.

Lyu Haotian began playing when he was 10 years' old and attracted the attention of local coach Pang Weiguo, himself a former professional player.

After 8 months he made his first century break.

Lyu first broke onto the professional snooker scene as a wildcard in the 2012 Haikou World Open, losing 4–5 to Tom Ford in the wildcard round.

In his next tournament, the 2012 China Open, he lost again in the wildcard round 2–5 to Peter Ebdon.

At the start of the 2012/2013 season Lyu won his first ever competitive match in a professional tournament by beating Qiu Yalong 4–1 in the first Asian Players Tour Championship.

He then narrowly lost 3–4 to Tom Ford in the last 64.

In the 2012 Shanghai Masters, at the age of 14, he became the youngest ever player to win a televised match by beating Marco Fu 5–4 in the wildcard round.

He then lost 2–5 to Mark Allen in the first round.

At the 2012 International Championship in China he reached the quarter-finals with a 6–5 defeat of Dominic Dale of Wales in the last 16, before losing 2–6 to former world champion Neil Robertson.

He thus became the youngest player ever to reach this stage of a ranking event.

Lyu followed up this result by winning the Chinese Youth Championship, beating Zhao Xintong 3-1 in the final.

In February 2013, he reached the first round of the 2013 World Open beating professional player Simon Bedford 5–2 in the wildcard round before losing 0–5 to Mark Selby.

Lyu also reached the first round of the 2013 China Open courtesy of the withdrawal of Mark Joyce in the wildcard round.

He lost 2–5 to Mark Williams.

In July, Lyu won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, beating the Mongolian Zhu Yinghui 9-6, to receive a two-year card for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons.

Lyu Haotian arrived in the UK as the youngest professional of the 2013-14 season, aged just 15.

He stayed in Sheffield, playing at the STAR Academy.

Lyu started his first season by beating Rod Lawler 5–2 to qualify for the Wuxi Classic where he faced Craig Steadman and won 5–3 to progress into the last 32.

He was then whitewashed 5–0 by Ali Carter in the subsequent round.

He also qualified for the Indian Open, but lost 4–1 to Thanawat Thirapongpaiboonin the first round.

Two of Lyu's flatmates, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and Passakorn Suwannawat, were suspended following an investigation into match fixing at the International Championship.

The two players returned to Thailand, but 4 days later their house was set on fire in an arson attack.

Lyu Haotian was unharmed, but the trauma had a significant effect on the 15-year old as he struggled to adapt to life in the UK.

He became withdrawn and demotivated.

In October, Lyu reached the first final of his career at the minor-ranking Zhengzhou Open in his homeland.

In December 2015 Lyu played in the Chinese Youth Tour, losing to Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals.