Ma Hailong (; born 4 September 2003) is a

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

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 The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of about 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. It is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, ...

Early life

At 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.

Career

In January 2023, at the Guangzhou Snooker Championship, Ma Hailong defeated

Jiang Jun Jiang Jun (; born 28 April 2005) is a Chinese professional snooker player. In 2019 he became the IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Champion. In 2023 he earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour. Career Junior career Jiang Jun won the 2019 ...

in the final to win the championship. In February 2023 Ma Hailong defeated Stan Moody in the final of the WSF Championship in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

where the win secured him the offer of a two-year card on the

. On the way to victory in the tournament he defeated

Liu Hongyu Liu Hongyu () born January 11, 1975, in Liaoning) is a female Chinese race walker. Achievements See also *China at the World Championships in Athletics China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asi ...

and former professional Gao Yang. It was his first overseas tournament outside of China. Previously a student at the CBSA Academy branch in

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, 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. He entered into the invitational 2023 Six-red World Championship held in

Pathum Thani Pathum Thani (, ) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, directly north of Bangkok. It is the capital of the Pathum Thani province, Thailand as well as the Mueang Pathum Thani district. As of 2005, it has a population of 18,320, c ...

, Thailand in March 2023.

2023/24

He was entered into the draw at the 2023 Championship League held at the

Morningside Arena The Leicester Arena (officially known as the Mattioli Arena due to sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose sports arena located in Leicester, England. The arena has a seating capacity for 3,000 spectators and its main tenants are the Leicester ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England from 26 June 2023. He went unbeaten in his round-robin stage, earning draws against

Mink Nutcharut Nutcharut Wongharuthai (, ; born 7 November 1999), better known as Mink Nutcharut, is a Thai snooker player who competes on both the professional World Snooker Tour and the World Women's Snooker Tour. She is the only woman known to have made a ...

, John Astley and Gary Wilson. In August 2023, he defeated Ian Burns to qualify for the latter rounds of the 2023 British Open. At the event, held in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

in September 2023, he reached the last-16 of a ranking event for the first time. At the

2023 Northern Ireland Open The 2023 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2023 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 to 29 October 2023 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Organised by the World Snoo ...

he defeated 12th seed Ryan Day in a deciding frame. 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 Xu Si (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Career Xu Si first started playing snooker aged 12 at his local club in Jieyang during the school holidays. After a few weeks he became determined to become a snooker pla ...

. In the first round of qualifying for the

2024 World Snooker Championship The 2024 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2024. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the 17th and final ranking event of the 202324 season. The title spon ...

he defeated Brazilian Victor Sarkis 10-1. In the second round, he overcame Englishman

Martin O'Donnell Martin O'Donnell (born May 1, 1955) is an American composer, audio director, and sound designer best known for his work on video game developer Bungie's titles, such as the ''Myth'' series, ''Oni'', the ''Halo'' series, and ''Destiny''. O'Don ...

10-7.

2024/25

In June 2024, he made a successful start to the

2024-25 snooker season A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

at the 2024 Championship League in

, topping his round-Robin group that contained former world champion

John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...

. He reached the last-16 at the

2024 Northern Ireland Open The 2024 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2024 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 to 27 October 2024 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the seventh Snooker ...

where he was defeated by Mark Williams. In December 2024 he reached the last-32 of the

2024 Snooker Shoot Out The 2024 Snooker Shoot Out (officially the 2024 9Club Snooker Shoot Out) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 4 to 7 December 2024 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, England. The tenth Snooker world rankings, ranking event ...

with a win over Lewis Ullah. He reached the last-32 of the 2025 Welsh Open with a win over

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship and has completed the Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murp ...

. He was defeated by

Duane Jones Duane Lionel Jones (April 11, 1937July 22, 1988) was an American actor. He was best known for his lead role as Ben in the 1968 horror film ''Night of the Living Dead''. He was later director of the Maguire Theater at the State University of New ...

in the second round of qualifying for the 2025 World Snooker Championship. Following the conclusion of his two-year tour card he entered the Asia-Oceania Q School in May 2025 but was defeated in the first event by Cambodia's Chhay Suon.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Hailong Living people Chinese snooker players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen 2003 births Sportspeople from Guilin