Wikipedia

Zhang Anda

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang (张).

Zhang Anda (Chinese: 张安达; born 25 December 1991) is a Chinese professional snooker player, who made his debut on the Main Tour for the 2009–10 season. He qualified by winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship. In November 2023 he won his first world ranking title by winning the International Championship.

Zhang Anda
Zhang Anda in Paul Hunter Classic 2012
Born (1991-12-25) December 25, 1991 (age 32)
Shaoguan, Guangdong, China
Sport country China
NicknameMighty Mouse[1]
Professional2009–2011, 2012–2020, 2021–present
Highest ranking10 (October 2024)
Current ranking 11 (as of 11 November 2024)
Maximum breaks3
Century breaks147 (as of 29 November 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking1
Zhang Anda
Traditional Chinese張安達
Simplified Chinese张安达
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhāng Āndá
Wade–GilesChang1 An1ta2
IPA[ʈʂáŋ ántǎ]

Standing at 5 ft. 3 in. (160 cm) tall, he is nicknamed "Mighty Mouse". Zhang lives in Sheffield, England, during the snooker season and practises at the Victoria Snooker Academy.

Career

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2009/2010 season

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The 2009–10 season was Zhang's first professional season on the tour. His first match was a 2–5 defeat to Craig Steadman in the first qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters.[2] His first wins came over Ben Woollaston (5–3) and Jin Long (5–2) during qualifying for the Grand Prix. He was then eliminated by Welshman Dominic Dale 0–5.[2] He also reached the same stage in Welsh Open qualifying having beaten Matthew Couch 5–2 and Mark Joyce 5–4 before losing 2–5 to Marcus Campbell.[2]

Zhang comfortably beat Craig Steadman 10–4 in his first match of World Championship qualifying, scoring his first century of the season in the penultimate frame. He then beat veteran John Parrott 10–6 in the next round. He made a second century, a 113, as he won the last five frames to progress. In the penultimate qualifying round, he beat Andrew Higginson 10–8 in a topsy turvy match. Zhang led 7–3 scoring a 114 in the process before Higginson went ahead 8–7. Zhang took the last three to go through to the final qualifying round. Ricky Walden, provisionally in the top 16 before the tournament, was Zhang's last obstacle to overcome. The first 16 frames were shared before a 134 break in frame 17 and a 103 break in frame 18 for Zhang resulted in a 10–8 victory.[3] This meant that he would be only the fourth Chinese player to play at The Crucible and the lowest ranked player (number 71) to qualify for tournament. He is also one of only a few players to make it to The Crucible in their debut season. This result denied Walden a top 16 place for the following season. Zhang was drawn against seven-time World Snooker champion Stephen Hendry in the first round of the event. Zhang was 0–4 down in the match but rallied to trail only 4–5 after the first session. Hendry increased his lead to 7–5 before Zhang won four frames in a row to be on the cusp of a famous win. He wasted a chance to take the match in the next frame and went on to lose 9–10.[4] Zhang ended the season ranked world number 71.[5]

2010/2011 season

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Zhang began the 2010–11 season well by defeating Jak Jones 5–4, Paul Davies 5–1 and Stuart Pettman 5–3 to reach the final qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters. He faced Matthew Stevens and was beaten 2–5.[6] However, he could only win more match in qualifying for the remaining six ranking events, concluding with a 6–10 loss to Andrew Pagett in the first round of World Championship qualifying.[6] He finished the season ranked world number 84, well outside of the top 64 who retain their places on the snooker tour.[7] He therefore entered Q School in an attempt to win back his place and was one match away from doing so in the first event, but lost 1–4 to David Grace. He couldn't qualify from the remaining two events and did not have a place on tour next season.[6]

2011/2012 season

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After being relegated off the tour the previous year, Zhang was confined to entering minor-ranking Players Tour Championship during the 2011–12 season. He played in all 12 of them, but had to wait until the final event, the FFB Snooker Open, for his first win which was a 4–1 triumph over Jamie Burnett.[8] Zhang was beaten by the same scoreline by Stephen Maguire in the next round to finish a lowly 115th on the Order of Merit.[9] Zhang lost in the final of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship 2–5 to Hossein Vafaei, but as Vafaei had already qualified for the main snooker tour, Zhang received a place for the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons.[10]

2012/2013 season

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Zhang lost in the first round of qualifying for the opening three ranking events of the season.[11] He played in all three of the new minor-ranking Asian Players Tour Championship events, reaching two quarter-finals where he lost to Michael White 3–4 and Li Hang 2–4 respectively.[11] He finished 10th on the Asian Order of Merit, just outside the top eight who qualified for the Finals.[12] His first win in a ranking event match this season was a 6–5 success against Li Yan in International Championship qualifying, but he lost 3–6 to Alfie Burden in the next round.[11] The most matches he could win in qualifying was for the World Open by seeing off Michael Wild 5–3, Luca Brecel 5–4 and Rory McLeod 5–2. He was edged out in the final qualifying round 4–5 by Jamie Cope.[11] Zhang's season came to an end when he lost 5–10 to Michael White in the third round of World Championship qualifying.[13] He finished the year ranked world number 77.[14]

2013/2014 season

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Zhang won three consecutive matches 5–4 to qualify for the second ranking event of the season, the Australian Goldfields Open.[15] He beat world number 20 Andrew Higginson 5–1 in the first round to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in his career, where he was defeated 5–1 by world number two Mark Selby.[16][17] Zhang also qualified for the Indian Open and beat Alan McManus 4–1 in the first round, before losing 4–3 to Michael White.[15] His best result in the minor-ranking European Tour events came at the Gdynia Open in Poland where he was beaten in the quarter-finals 4–2 by Fergal O'Brien.[18] Zhang was relegated from the main tour at the end of the season as he was placed 77th in the world rankings, outside of the top 64 who remain.[15][19] In his final game of the first 2014 Q School event he made a match-winning break of 54 in the deciding frame against Jamie Clarke to edge it 4–3, having been 3–0 up. The result earned Zhang a fresh two-year main tour card for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.[20]

2014/2015 season

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Zhang played a curtailed schedule of events in the first half of the 2014–15 season. He met Ali Carter, who was playing in his first ranking match since having treatment for lung cancer, in the first round of the UK Championship and came back from 5–3 down to beat him 6–5.[21] Zhang lost 6–5 to Rory McLeod in the second round.[22] He was whitewashed 4–0 by Gary Wilson in the first round of the Welsh Open and narrowly lost 5–4 to Peter Ebdon in the first round of the China Open.[23] Zhang defeated Anthony Hamilton 10–3, Mark Joyce 10–9 and won the last three frames against Liang Wenbo to beat him 10–9 and qualify for the World Championship.[23] The world number 98 was the lowest ranked player to have qualified and in his second appearance in the event he fell 8–1 down to Joe Perry in the opening session.[24] Zhang won the first three frames of the next session which included a 132 break, but Perry went on to complete a 10–4 win.[25]

2015/2016 season

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Zhang defeated Liang Wenbo 4–3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Haining Open, but lost 4–3 to Ding Junhui. He won his first professional event the General Cup Qualifying Event. He beat Cao Yupeng 5–4 in the final. This was an invitation event with the winner taking the eighth and final place in the General Cup. He would go on to reach the semi-finals of the event, where he was beaten 6–3 by Marco Fu. Zhang overcame Robert Milkins and Dechawat Poomjaeng both 5–4 to qualify for the German Masters and he whitewashed Alfie Burden 5–0 in the opening round to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time in his career.[26] His run was ended with a 5–1 defeat to Judd Trump.[27] Zhang qualified for the World Championship for the second year in a row with wins over Bratislav Krustev, Mark Davis and Zhou Yuelong.[26] He lost 10–5 to Barry Hawkins in the opening round.[28] Zhang was just outside the top 64 in the world rankings at 65, but earned a new two-year tour card by finishing joint fifth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.[29][30]

2016/2017 season

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Zhang comfortably beat Dominic Dale 5–1 to play in the World Open where he defeated Peter Ebdon 5–1 and Judd Trump 5–2 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the third time, but he was thrashed 5–0 by David Gilbert. He got to the same stage of the UK Championship by overcoming Tian Pengfei 6–2, Anthony McGill 6–3 and Mitchell Mann 6–3. Zhang was unable to make it to his first quarter-final as he lost 6–1 to Mark Selby.[31] He qualified for the China Open, but was ousted 5–1 by Mark Williams in the opening round.[32]

2019/2020 season

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Zhang remained outside the Top 64 for the entire season with a relatively poor run of form and was unable to replicate prior successes.

2020/2021 season

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Owing to his previous poor season, he fell outside of the Top 64 and lost his Tour card. He did not enter the Q School event as a result of the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and was therefore relegated from the professional tour.[33] However, Zhang performed well in the 2021 CBSA China Tour and was awarded a tour card for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 World Snooker Tour seasons as a result.[34]

2021/2022 season

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2022/2023 season

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2023/2024 season

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Zhang reached the final of the 2023 English Open, however came runner up with a 9–7 defeat to Judd Trump. One month later he reached the final of the 2023 International Championship this time going one better to win his first world ranking title by beating Tom Ford 10-6.

Personal life

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Zhang Anda was married in May 2019, but the couple postponed their honeymoon so that Zhang could play in the CBSA Chinese National Championship in Xi'an. Zhang won the tournament, beating Zhao Jianbo 5–3 in the final.[35]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournaments 2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24 		2024/
25
Rankings[36] [nb 1] [nb 1] [nb 2] 70 [nb 1] [nb 2] 77 [nb 3] 83 [nb 4] 67 [nb 5] 74 [nb 2] 70 58 12
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event A RR RR A
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 1R
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 6R
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R 1R 1R 2R LQ 1R F 2R
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R LQ 2R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 3R QF
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 3R 1R 2R 2R LQ LQ 2R 1R
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R Not Held W 2R
UK Championship A A LQ LQ A LQ 2R 2R 1R 4R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ QF QF
Shoot Out Not Held Non-Ranking Event 1R 1R 3R 4R 2R 1R 2R
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 2R 3R 3R 1R 2R 2R 3R
German Masters Not Held LQ A LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R
Welsh Open A A LQ LQ A LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R QF LQ 1R
World Open[nb 6] A A LQ A A LQ LQ Not Held 3R 1R 1R 2R Not Held 1R
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ QF
Players Championship[nb 7] Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ F
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ QF
World Championship A A 1R LQ A LQ LQ 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ 1R
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Ranking Event A A Not Held A 1R
Champion of Champions A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A
The Masters A A LQ A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic[nb 8] NH Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ A Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Tournament Not Held A LQ 2R A LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A WR LQ LQ A LQ LQ WD LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event WD A QF NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 2R LQ NH LQ QF LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open WR A LQ LQ A LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 9] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank WD 3R LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ 2R LQ Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 1R 2R 1R 2R 3R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
European Masters[nb 10] NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 3R LQ 1R 1R LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Beijing International Challenge Not Held A LQ Tournament Not Held
General Cup Not Held A NH A A A A SF Tournament Not Held
Shoot Out Not Held A A A 2R A A Ranking Event
Macau Masters Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Six-red World Championship[nb 11] NH A A A NH RR A A A A A A A NH QF Not Held
Haining Open Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank SF 4R 4R 4R A NH A NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ 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-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD 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.
  1. ^ a b c He was an amateur
  2. ^ a b c New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  3. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points
  4. ^ Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
  6. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (2007/2008–2009/2010)
  7. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  8. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  9. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  10. ^ The event was called the Malta Cup (2007/2008)
  11. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)

Career finals

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Ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2023 English Open   Judd Trump 7–9
Winner 1. 2023 International Championship   Tom Ford 10–6
Runner-up 2. 2024 Players Championship   Mark Allen 8–10

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2010 The China Classic   Tian Pengfei 3–5
Winner 1. 2015 General Cup Qualifying Event   Cao Yupeng 5–4

Team finals: 1

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Outcome No. Year Championship Team/partner Opponent(s) in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2018 Macau Masters   Joe Perry
  Marco Fu
  Mark Williams 		  Barry Hawkins
  Ryan Day
  Zhao Xintong
  Zhou Yuelong 		1–5

Pro-am finals: 2 (2 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2016 Fuzhou Open   Zhou Yuelong 5–1[37]
Winner 2. 2019 Xi'an Open   Zhao Jianbo 5–3[38]

Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2007 IBSF World Under-21 Championship   Michael Georgiou 6–11
Winner 1. 2009 ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship   Noppon Saengkham 5–1
Runner-up 2. 2012 ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship   Hossein Vafaei 2–6

References

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  1. ^ "Zhang Anda". WPBSA. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Zhang Anda 2009/2010". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Betfred.com World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Stephen Hendry beats Zhang Anda to reach second round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. ^ Ardalen, Hermund (2010). "Provisional World Rankings 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Zhang Anda 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. ^ "World Rankings 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Zhang Anda 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Order of Merit 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Asian Championship 2012 – 13th Under-21 Snooker". Cue Sports India. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d "Zhang Anda 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Asian Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  13. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  15. ^ a b c "Zhang Anda 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Higginson falls at first hurdle in Australia". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  17. ^ "Selby Eases into Last Eight". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  18. ^ "Gdynia Glory For Maximum Man Murphy". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  19. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Melling / Steadman / Tian / Zhang Qualify". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  21. ^ "UK Championship 2014: Ali Carter loses to Zhang Anda in first round". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  22. ^ "UK Championship 2014 results". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  23. ^ a b "Zhang Anda 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Sweet 16 Through to Sheffield". World Snooker. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  25. ^ "Snooker - Perry breezes through first round at the Crucible". Peterborough Telegraph. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  26. ^ a b "Zhang Anda 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  27. ^ "German Masters 2016 schedule & results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  28. ^ "World Snooker 2016: Barry Hawkins seeks improvement for Ronnie O'Sullivan tie". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  29. ^ "Asian Order of Merit 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  30. ^ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  31. ^ "UK Championship 2016: Mark Selby thrashes Zhang Anda to reach last eight". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  32. ^ "Zhang Anda 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  33. ^ Ivan (2020-10-21). "Mei And Zhang Ponder Future". World Snooker. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  34. ^ Huart, Matt (2021-04-17). "CBSA Qualifiers 2021: Event Two Results". WPBSA. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  35. ^ "Zhang Anda wins Chinese Nationals 2019". cbsa.org.cn. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  36. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  37. ^ "Zhang Wins Chinese National Event". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  38. ^ "Zhang On Top In Xi'an". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
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