Liu Song (snooker player)

Liu Song (Chinese刘 菘/刘 菘, Pinyin Liu Song, born December 8, 1983 in Tianjin) is a Chinese snooker player.

Career

For the first time made ​​Liu Song attracted international attention when he reached the quarterfinals of the IBSF Under-21 World Cup 2002. His countryman Ding Junhui proved even then as the stronger players and took after defeating Liu also the title. A year later, he then managed to reach the final, where he lost against Australian Neil Robertson.

The success helped him to get a wildcard for the following Snooker Main Tour professional players. Already in his debut year he became the first player from the People's Republic qualified for the main round of a major tournament. In the Welsh Open in January 2004, he stood first in the first round of a world ranking tournament, where he lost to the eventual semi-finalists, the Hong Kong Chinese Marco Fu 5-3. However, it remained the only highlight of his first start-up on the main tour, which is why he could not stay there.

The victory on the DIOS tour in 2005 /06 but he took the professional status back quickly. This time he was able to maintain among others, the achievement of the fourth qualifying round of the world championship among professionals and finished the season as 72 of the world rankings. This was followed by his best-ever season: 2007 /08 he twice reached the final round and while he is still retired at the Northern Ireland Trophy in the first round, he succeeded in snooker Grand Prix in Scotland with the quarter-finals his hitherto greatest success. After he had previously defeated, among others, Stephen Maguire, Matthew Stevens and Dave Harold, he was only stopped by the eventual winner Marco Fu. Together with further successes in the qualifying rounds it brought Liu Song number 53 in the Snooker world rankings.

There followed a year in which the first match in the qualification was usually already be last, only at the Northern Ireland Trophy and the World Cup he was taking an extra turn. Only the successful previous year, held it in the two-year Evaluation of the world rankings in the top 64 This continued into the 2009/10 season continued. Very early on he escaped only at the Masters, this is not a world ranking tournament, and at the Welsh Open. There he reached six years after his final round debut again the round of 32 but this brought him to little dots and so he dropped out a second time from the main tour again.

The following year, Liu Song benefited at the beginning of the season of the suspension of John Higgins, for the Asian Association nominated him as substitutes for the first three professional tournaments. At the World Open in 2010, he could take his chance and went for the first time in his career in the knockout stages of a World Ranking Tournament in. Previously, he had already proved by reaching the quarter-finals for the fourth event of the Players Tour Championship, a shared amateurs minor ranking tournament series, improving form.

Received a special award Liu Song in March 2010, from the World Snooker Association, he became the first Chinese player-manager status.