AS PRODIGIES GO, China’s Zhou Yuelong is a pretty good one.
The 17-year-old has been around snooker circles for a while and was crowned the IBSF World Amateur Championship in 2013 and reached the quarter-finals of two Asian Tour tournaments.
The following year he turned professional and has climbed to 75th in the world rankings and reached the last 32 of the International Championship and the China Open. He, alongside 15-year-old Yan Bingtao, also represented the China ‘B’ team at the World Cup earlier this summer and the pair promptly stunned everyone.
They beat Australia (Neil Robertson & Vinne Calabrese) and Wales (Mark Williams & Michael White) on their way to the final and then got the better of Scotland (John Higgans & Stephen Maguire) in the decider, taking home $200,000 between them.
And earlier today, Yuelong claimed another scalp.
At the Champion of Champions event at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena (a competition bringing together the winners of various tournaments from the previous year), Yuelong came from behind to beat the reigning world champions Stuart Bingham 4-3, having trailed 3-1.
Next up for him is either Judd Trump or Kyren Wilson in the group final later tonight.
