Chang Bingyu (; born 8 August 2002) is a Chinese professional snooker player.
In December 2022, Chang was suspended from the professional tour amid a match-fixing investigation. In January 2023, the WPBSA charged him with fixing a match. After a hearing at an independent tribunal, Chang was banned from professional competition for two years, until 7 December 2024. Returning from the ban, he won the Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship 2025, which qualified him for a place on the professional World Snooker Tour for the following two seasons (2025/26 and 2026/27).
Career
Early career Chang Bingyu was born in Golmud, Qinghai on 8 August 2002. In December 2009, his family settled in Urumqi, Xinjiang. He first started to play snooker aged 6. At the age of 10, he had his first maximum 147 break in practice. His father, Chang Xudong, sold the family house and quit his job as an engineer to help his son's career, and the pair practiced together. They moved to Guangdong, and Chang worked with British-born coach Roger Leighton at the Wiraka Academy.
His first tournament 147 was in Guangzhou, aged 14. He also won a Junior tournament in Guangzhou, beating Duan Yanfeng 5–1. After victories at U14 and U16 level in Xi'an and Taishan, Chang concentrated on U18 and U21 tournaments. In 2017, Chang won the China Youth Championship in Yangzhou, beating He Guoqiang 4–0.
Later that year, Chang had his first significant result in a senior event on the Chinese tour. By beating Mei Xiwen, Ju Reti and Chen Feilong, he reached the final of the Baoying Open, losing 5–4 to Cao Yupeng after recovering from 4-1 behind.
In 2018, Chang won the IBSF World Snooker Championship, a leading amateur event. He beat He Guoqiang 8–3 in the final. He later received wildcard invitations to the World Open (where he beat Jimmy Robertson), the Shanghai Masters, the China Championship (beating Robertson and Robert Milkins), the International Championship and the China Open (where he beat Mark Davis).
In 2019 Chang had finished at the top of the China amateur rankings, thus qualifying for the World Snooker tour for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons. He moved to England with his father, where he was at first based at the Q House Academy in Darlington, and then later at the Victoria Snooker Academy in Sheffield.
2019/20 season Chang's first match as a professional was a 4–2 win over Ian Burns in a Riga Masters qualifier. A visa issue meant that he was unable to travel to Riga to participate in the main event.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, the season was suspended, and Chang returned to China. He decided not to return when the season resumed, and missed the 2020 World Snooker Championship. He finished the season ranked 103.
2020/21 season Chang reached the third round of the UK Championship, beating Sam Craigie and Mark Allen before narrowly losing to Zhou Yuelong 6–5. In the World Championship he beat Julien Leclercq and Tom Ford before losing a 'Judgement Day' encounter with Lyu Haotian 10–6, a match which contained five century breaks.
Chang finished the season ranked 69, but his position on the 1-year list meant he qualified for a new 2-year tour card. After the season, rather than returning to China, Chang chose to stay in Sheffield to work on his game.
2025/26 season In April 2025, he defeated Ryan Thomerson to win the 2025 Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship and earn a two-year card for the World Snooker Tour, starting with the 2025-26 snooker season. He made his professional return in June 2025 in the first round of qualifying for the 2025 Wuhan Open, defeating Daniel Wells 5-4, having mounted a comeback from 4-1 down. In December, he reached the final of the 2025 Scottish Open but was defeated 29 by Chris Wakelin.
In February 2026 in the first round of the 2026 Welsh Open, Chang became the first recorded snooker player to win a multi-frame professional match with a 100 percent pot success rate, that is, he potted 143 balls without a single missed pot in the match (barring any unreported instances). His whitewash of Shaun Murphy included four consecutive century breaks (130, 136, 119, 130) to amass 515 points to Murphy's 1 point. Three of his breaks were total clearances, with the third frame a 14 red clearance after Murphy potted his lone red. Chang became the third player to score four consecutive centuries in a best of seven frame match joining Neil Robertson and Mark Allen. Chang then was beaten in the second round of the Welsh Open in a deciding frame by Jackson Page.
Having hit a 147 maximum in qualifying for the UK Championship, he hit a second in the season in the penultimate qualifying round of the 2026 World Championship, when facing Luca Brecel.
2026/27 season During the qualifying round for the 2026 Shenzhen Open, Chang made his third competitive maximum break in the fourth frame against Chatchapong Nasa: the match featured four century breaks (including the maximum) and an 83.
Chang won his first ranking title at the Wuhan Open: it was his second final, having reached his maiden ranking final at the 2025 Scottish Open which he had lost. He defeated Zhao Xintong 10–7 to claim the Wuhan Open title. The victory earned him a winners' cheque of £175,000 and brought an end to Zhao's unbeaten record in tournament finals.
Personal life When in the UK, Chang Bingyu lives in Sheffield and practices at the Ding Junhui Snooker Academy.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2025/26 2026/27RankingIt shows the ranking at the beginning of the seasonHe was an amateurNew players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking78Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points8148Ranking tournamentsChampionship LeagueNon-Ranking EventRR2R2RRR2RChina OpenALQ1RTournament Not Held1RWuhan OpenTournament Not Held2RWBritish OpenTournament Not Held1R2R3R2REnglish OpenAAA1R2R1RWDLQ2RShenzhen OpenThe event was called the Xi'an Grand Prix (2024/2025–2025/2026)Tournament Not HeldLQLQNorthern Ireland OpenAAA1R1RLQLQ1RInternational ChampionshipAALQ1RNot HeldLQUK ChampionshipAAA1R3R1RLQLQShoot OutAAA2RWD1RWD2RScottish OpenAAA2R2R1RWDFGerman MastersAAALQLQLQLQWDWelsh OpenAAA1R1RLQWD2RWorld Grand PrixDid Not Qualify2RPlayers ChampionshipDid Not QualifyWorld OpenAA1R1RNot Held1RTour ChampionshipNot HeldDid Not QualifyWorld ChampionshipAAAALQLQALQFormer ranking tournamentsChina ChampionshipNRA2RLQTournament Not HeldWST Pro SeriesTournament Not HeldRRTournament Not HeldTurkish MastersTournament Not HeldLQNot HeldGibraltar OpenAAA2R2RWDNot HeldEuropean MastersAAALQ1RLQWDNot HeldSaudi Arabia MastersTournament Not Held6RNHFormer non-ranking tournamentsHaining Open1R2R3RQFNHAANot Held
Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
Career finals Ranking finals: 2 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2025 Scottish Open Chris Wakelin 2–9Winner 1. 2026 Wuhan Open Zhao Xintong 10–7
Pro-am finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2017 Baoying Open Cao Yupeng 4–5
Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 2018 IBSF World Snooker Championship He Guoqiang 8–3Winner 2. 2025 Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship Ryan Thomerson 6–1
References
External links