Lyu Claims Asian Championship
Chinese teenager Lyu Haotian is set for a return to the professional snooker circuit after defeating Pankaj Advani in the final to win the 2017 Asian Amateur Snooker Championship.
Lyu will be offered a guaranteed two-year World Snooker tour card for his success in Doha, Qatar this past week. Despite only being 19 years old, Lyu previously appeared on the sport’s top tier between 2013 to 2015.
Players from a total of 22 different countries took part in the 33rd edition of this continental championship that has been won in the past by James Wattana and Ding Junhui.
The eventual champion had no issues qualifying from his group, winning all three of his fixtures. In the subsequent knockout phase, he eliminated Daegyu Lee (South Korea) 4-0, Mohammad Rais Senzahi (Afghanistan) 4-1, Keen Hoo Moh (Malaysia) 5-4 and Mohamed Shehab (United Arab Emirates) 5-3 to reach the final for the first time.
His opponent was the well-decorated Advani who had been in clinical form throughout. The Indian was also undefeated having dropped only four frames in seven matches on route, culminating with a 5-0 sweep of Pakistan’s Mohammad Bilal in the semi-finals.
In a clash of youth versus experience, the youngster bridged the 12-year age gap, compiling breaks of 65, 57 and 102 as he recorded a 6-3 triumph.
Lyu becomes the third Chinese player to win this championship, following in the footsteps of Ding (2002) and Jin Long (2005 and 2008).
For Advani, it meant more discomfort in this tournament having lost the title match for a fourth time – he has yet to add this particular title to his CV.
Li Yuan (China) constructed the tournament’s highest break with a 129.
Written and published by Michael Day on the 28th April 2017
