Gao Yang (; born 5 September 2004) is a Chinese professional snooker player.
Career Gao Yang started playing on the Chinese tour aged just 13, and was quickly accepted by the CBSA Academy. He played in the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2018 and 2019, the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship and IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship also in 2018 and 2019. His only real success came in the 2019 IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship, where he reached the final, losing 5–2 to the 13-year old Jiang Jun.
His first taste of professional snooker came at the 2019 World Open, where he was a wildcard. Originally Gao's coach Ju Reti had qualified, but gave up his place in order to allow his pupil to gain experience. Gao lost the match 5–1 to Lu Ning.
In January 2020 Gao won the WSF Junior Open, an under-18 tournament. He beat heralded juniors Ben Mertens, Dean Young and Wu Yize, before overcoming Sean Maddocks 5–2 in the final. As a result, he was awarded a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2020–21 and 2021–22. Even though just 15 years old, he stated that he intended to take up his professional tour card. He thus became the second professional snooker player from Anhui, after his mentor Niu Zhuang.
2020/2021 season As it happened, Gao turned 16 before the start of the 2020–21 season, which was delayed due to COVID-19. His first tournament was the Championship League. Gao made 2-2 draws against Ben Woollaston and Si Jiahui, but lost 3–1 to Matt Selt. He finished his first day as a professional 3rd in the 4-player group but had made two century breaks.
In subsequent tournaments Gao had wins against Zhao Jianbo, Kacper Filipiak, Mitchell Mann and Duane Jones. In the Northern Ireland Open Gao lost 4–0 to World No.1 Judd Trump, who had breaks of 109, 127 and a maximum 147. In the World Championship, Gao beat experienced player Paul Davison 6-3 and played very well against Lyu Haotian to lead 5–3. But his more experienced compatriot won the last 3 frames to edge the match 6–5. Gao finished his debut season ranked 107.
Style Gao is known as an attacking left-hander. Unusually, he can play with either hand with the rest: with his left-hand he plays underarm in a manner pioneered by the Thai player Sunny Akani.
Personal life During the season, Gao Yang lives in Sheffield where he practices at the Ding Junhui Snooker Academy.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27RankingIt shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.He was an amateurNew players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking7575Ranking tournamentsChampionship LeagueNon-RankingRRRRAAARRRRChina OpenATournament Not HeldLQWuhan OpenTournament Not HeldAALQLQBritish OpenNot Held1RAAA1RLQEnglish OpenAA2RLQAAALQ1RShenzhen OpenThe event was called the Xi'an Grand Prix (2024/2025–2025/2026)Tournament Not HeldALQLQNorthern Ireland OpenAA2R1RAAALQInternational ChampionshipAANot HeldAALQUK ChampionshipAA1R2RALQALQShoot OutAAWD2RAAA2RScottish OpenAA2R1RAAA1RGerman MastersAALQWDAAA1RWelsh OpenAA1RLQAAA1RWorld Grand PrixDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQPlayers ChampionshipDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld OpenALQNot HeldAALQTour ChampionshipDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld ChampionshipAALQLQLQLQLQLQFormer ranking tournamentsWST Pro SeriesNot HeldRRTournament Not HeldTurkish MastersNot HeldLQTournament Not HeldGibraltar OpenAA1R2RTournament Not HeldEuropean MastersAA2R1RAANot HeldSaudi Arabia MastersTournament Not HeldA3RNHFormer non-ranking tournamentsHaining Open2R2RNHAATournament Not 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 heldNR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking eventR / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking eventMR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event
Career finals Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2019 IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship Jiang Jun 2–5Winner 1. 2020 WSF Junior Open Sean Maddocks 5–2Runner-up 2. 2024 WSF Open Cheung Ka Wai 0–5Winner 2. 2025 WSF Championship Brian Cini 5–3
References
External links