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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 reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 International Championship when he was aged 14, which is still the record in a ranking event.
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 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.
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 He became withdrawn and demotivated.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. 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.
In December 2015 Lyu played in the Chinese Youth Tour, losing to Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals.
In January, Lyu won the China City Snooker Club League singles title, beating Luo Honghao 5–0 in the final.
He entered Q School, but failed to win enough games to rejoin the tour.
Encouraged by Pang Weiguo, Lyu entered the 2017 Asian Championship, and on 28 April 2017 won the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship held in Doha, beating Pankaj Advani in the final 6–3. As a result, he qualified for the 2017-18 tour.
Lyu won a gold medal in the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, playing 9-ball pool scotch doubles with experienced partner Liu Haitao. Lyu also played in six-reds events in Ashgabat and Bangkok.
Returning to snooker, he narrowly lost 4–3 in the second round of the European Masters to world champion Mark Selby.
In the Northern Ireland Open, Lyu produced the best result of his career to date. With wins against Joe Swail, Yuan Sijun, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Liam Highfield and Tian Pengfei he progressed to the semi-final, where he lost to fellow Chinese teenager Yan Bingtao 6–2.
In the UK Championship, a trio of wins against experienced players Anthony Hamilton, Peter Ebdon and Marco Fu took him to the last 16, where he lost to Mark Joyce 6–4.
Lyu started 2018 with a win in the qualifying tournament for the China Open, against in-form player Ryan Day 6–3. In the main event he progressed to the last 16 with wins over Liam Highfield and Fergal O'Brien before losing to the eventual winner, World Champion Mark Selby.
At the qualifying for the 2018 World Snooker Championship he beat Fang Xiongman 10–8, before playing Martin O'Donnell. He fell behind 5–9, before winning 5 straight frames to take the match 10–9. In the final round he continued his run by beating Rory McLeod 10–2, winning the last 9 frames, to qualify for the main event at the Crucible for the first time.
At the Crucible he was drawn against Marco Fu, who had not competed for 4 months due to eye surgery. Lyu won the match 10–5, scoring two century breaks, becoming the youngest player to win a match at the Crucible since Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1995. In the second round he faced Barry Hawkins. Despite trailing 4-0 and 8–3, he levelled the scores at 9-9, but ultimately lost 13–10.
Lyu finished the season with £94000 prize money, ranking him 30th on the one-year list, and 61st on the official two-year list, easily the highest of all players in the first year of a new 2-year tour card.
Lyu Haotian was one of only two players (the other being Masters Champion Mark Allen) to reach the last-16 of the World Championship, UK Championship and China Open, the three most important ranking tournaments in the 2017–18 season.
In March, the snooker season was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Lyu Haotian returned to China. He returned to the UK for the World Championship, but lost 6-2 to Eden Sharav. He finished the season ranked 43.
In the inaurgural WST Pro Series, Lyu Haotian qualified for the second stage, winning his first 6 mini-matches, including a 2–0 victory over reigning World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.
In the World Championship, Lyu beat fellow Chinese players Gao Yang and Chang Bingyu to qualify for the Crucible for a second time. However, his break-off shot in the first frame hit the blue, and his opponent Mark Allen cleared the table with a 139 break. This set the tone for the match, which was won by Allen 10–2. Lyu finished the season ranked 53.
In the World Championship Lyu Haotian had victories over Xu Si 6-4, Lu Ning 6-3 and Dominic Dale 10-4 to qualify for the main event at the Crucible Theatre for the third time. There he faced Stuart Bingham, but lost 10-5. Lyu finished the season ranked 45.
Lyu qualified for the 2022 UK Championship, where he lost 6-4 to Luca Brecel in the last 32. In the second half of the season, Lyu didn't have as much success in ranking events as he did at the beginning of the season. At the World Championship, he lost 10-8 to Mark Davis in the last 80, failing to qualify for the Crucible for the first time in three years.
| RankingIt shows the ranking at the beginning of the season | He was an amateur | New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking | 93 | 61 | 26 | 43 | 53 | 45 | 45 | 30 | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | RR | A | 3R | RR | A | RR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 4R | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | SF | LQ | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | QF | 1R | 3R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | 2R | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | A | SF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | QF | 2R | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | NH | QF | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | Not Held | 3R | 3R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | 4R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Non-Ranking Event | A | 2R | 1R | SF | 4R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | WD | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | NH | MR | Not Held | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 4R | LQ | 1R | 3R | 1R | WD | ||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Not Held | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | 2R | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Players ChampionshipThe event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2011/2012–2015/2016) | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||
| World Open | WR | 1R | LQ | Not Held | A | A | 1R | 1R | Not Held | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | 2R | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Ranking Event | A | 1R | Not Held | A | 1R | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | A | A | RR | A | A | |||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuxi Classic | NR | WR | 2R | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | A | 1R | LQ | LQ | A | A | 1R | Non-Ranking | Not Held | Non-Ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Open | Not Held | 1R | 1R | NH | A | LQ | F | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Open | WR | 1R | LQ | LQ | A | A | 3R | 3R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Riga MastersThe event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016) | Not Held | Minor-Ranking | A | LQ | LQ | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | LQ | SF | 1R | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Pro Series | Tournament Not Held | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | A | A | A | 4R | 1R | 4R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 3R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | 2R | LQ | 1R | 3R | LQ | 1R | QF | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | NH | A | A | A | A | A | RR | A | A | Not Held | LQ | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||
| Haining Open | Not Held | Minor-Ranking | 3R | 4R | A | A | NH | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| means an event was not held. |
| means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. |
| means an event is/was a ranking event. |
| means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2019 | Indian Open | Matthew Selt | 3–5 |
| Runner-up | 1 | 2013 | Zhengzhou Open | Liang Wenbo | 0–4 |
| Winner | 1 | 2012 | Zhu Yinghui | 9–6 | |
| Winner | 2 | 2017 | Pankaj Advani | 6–3 |
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