Liu Hongyu (Chinese: 刘宏宇; born 21 April 2004) is a Chinese snooker player. He won the APBSF Asia-Pacific Championship on 1 May 2023 to qualify for the World Snooker Tour, on a two-year card, starting from the 2023–24 snooker season.
In June 2021, at the Chinese national team championship he played as a member of
Dongguan Team under coach Jin Di alongside team members Zhao Hanyang and Liang Xiaolong.[3] At the 2022 Q School first event defeated Belgian Ben Mertens which included a break of 137.[4] He also scored centuries in Q school against Alfie Lee, and a 134 against Andy Milliard.[5]
2022–23 season
In February 2023 he lost in the quarter finals to eventual winner Ma Hailong at the WSF Championship in Sydney, Australia.[6] During the tournament he had impressed with his high scoring, including breaks of 138 and 133.[7]
In April 2023 Liu lost in the final of the first CBSA World Snooker Tour qualifying tournament to Jiang Jun.[8] The following month he won the Asia-Pacific Championship with a 6-1 win in the final against Yuchen Wang to be the APBSF Asia Pacific qualifier on to the World Snooker Tour for the 2023-24 snooker season, on a two-year card.[9][10]
In October 2023, at the English Open, he came from 3-1 down to defeat former World Champion Shaun Murphy 4-3.[16] He followed this up with credible wins over ranking event finalist Joe O'Connor and former snooker shoot-out winner Chris Wakelin before defeating another former world champion Mark Williams to reach his first ranking event quarter-final. He then triumphed over compatriot Ding Junhui to reach his first ranking semi-final,[17] before losing to Zhang Anda by 2-6.[18] In December 2023, he recorded a second win of the season over Shaun Murphy, winning 4-1 at the Scottish Open.[19] He qualified for the 2024 German Masters in Berlin with a 5-0 whitewash over the experienced Dominic Dale.[20]
He started the 2025-26 season in June 2025 in the qualifying round for the Wuhan Open with a creditable win over established professional Ian Burns.[27] That month, he recorded a 4-0 whitewash win over Ng On-yee in British Open qualifying.[28] He then topped his group in the round-robin stage of the 2025 Championship League against Ian Burns, Patrick Whelan and Noppon Saengkham.[29][30]
