Ones to Watch
Three weeks after losing in Northern Ireland Open qualifying, he made the first ranking final of his life in Shenzhen. When the tour lands in Belfast this week, he will be watching from the outside.
When the Northern Ireland Open begins in Belfast on Sunday, Sijun Yuan will be watching from the outside. Three weeks ago he could not qualify for it. Then he went and made the first ranking final of his life in Shenzhen. The story of the strangest fortnight on the tour.
Six weeks into the season, Sijun Yuan's campaign read like a journeyman's ledger: a 5-0 Wuhan Open defeat by Judd Trump, an English Open exit to Yuelong Zhou, and then, on 15 September, the one that stung most - a defeat to Mateusz Baranowski in Northern Ireland Open qualifying that cost him his place in Belfast.
Four days later he beat Scott Donaldson to reach the International Championship. Then Shenzhen happened. Yuan won through the draw - including a 5-1 defeat of Fan Zhengyi, the man who had knocked Jack Lisowski out of the English Open - and by the first weekend of October he was walking out for the Shenzhen Open final, the first ranking final of his career.
World champion Wu Yize won it 10-5, collecting the third ranking title of his career. But the story of the tournament in Shenzhen was the man he had to beat to get it.
From a qualifying defeat to a ranking final, at a glance.
World champion Wu Yize took the Shenzhen Open final on 4 October 2026, a win that secured the third ranking title of his career.
The first ranking final of Yuan's professional career, reached at the Shenzhen Open.
Nineteen days after losing in Northern Ireland Open qualifying to Mateusz Baranowski, he walked out for a ranking final.
His Shenzhen win over Fan Zhengyi - the same Fan Zhengyi who had knocked Jack Lisowski out of the English Open.
Five wins from his last six recorded matches: Tom Ford and Oliver Lines at the English Open, International Championship qualifying, then the Shenzhen run.
Here is the twist. When the Waterfront Hall opens its doors on Sunday, Yuan will be the recent finalist with no ticket - beaten in qualifying by Baranowski back in September, before any of this happened. The run that changed his profile came one fortnight too late for Belfast.
His next chance to prove Shenzhen was a beginning rather than a peak is already booked: he is in the International Championship draw after seeing off Scott Donaldson in qualifying. Until that tournament begins, the question stays open.
Every recorded result since the Wuhan Open, most recent first, pulled live from MyiCue's match history.
The Shenzhen Open semi-final and final are not yet in the results feed; the head-to-head below includes the final.
So far, the head-to-head between the two men has a sample size of exactly one - and it went the way of the world champion. The full record, live from snooker.org, is below; vote in the poll while you are there and tell us where you stand on the fortnight that was.
MyiCue
Previous meetings from snooker.org
Source: snooker.org | Completed matches only