Zhang Jiankang

Zhang Jiankang (born 25 August 1998)[1] is a Chinese former professional snooker player.

Zhang Jiankang
Born (1998-08-25) 25 August 1998
Yibin city, Sichuan, China
Sport country China
Professional2018–2020
Highest ranking85 (June–August 2019)
Career winnings£13,600
Highest break102:
2019 UK Championship
Century breaks2
Best ranking finishLast 16 (2019 Scottish Open)

Career

Zhang started to play aged 8, influenced by his father, who was a club-level player. He had seen Ding Junhui playing on television, and expressed an interest. At the age of 11, Zhang left mainstream school and went alone to Shenzhen and later Shanghai, where he was coached by Wu Wenzhong who had previously coached Ding Junhui. In 2014 Zhang won the Sichuan Provincial Championship and the Chinese U21 Championship, and was accepted in the CBSA Academy in Beijing.[2][3]

Early career

Following Zhang's promising performances in the academy and in Chinese tour events, the CBSA awarded him a wildcard for the 2016 International Championship in Daqing. There he defeated Ross Muir 6-3 before losing to Stuart Bingham 6–1.

At the 2017 IBSF U-21 Championship he missed the final red attempting a maximum break.[4] He lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Fan Zhengyi.[5][6]

In April 2018 he was awarded a two-year professional tour card, being ranked at the highest amateur in the CBSA China Tour ranking list.[7] Ahead of the 2018–19 season he has been announced as being based at Q House Snooker Academy in Darlington as a resident professional, managed by Chusak Phetmalaikul.[8]

2018/2019

He competed at the 2018 World Snooker Team Cup representing China with Fan Zhengyi but they lost to India 2–3 in the Round of 16.[9]

Zhang's first win as a professional was against Michael Holt in the European Masters.[10] Unfortunately, a lost ID card meant he was unable to travel to the UK to compete in the World Championship. He finished his first season ranked 113.[11]

2019/2020

At the start of the 2019–20 season, Zhang was again affected by travel problems, missing the first two tournaments. He then went on a losing run of 5 matches. At the Scottish Open he produced his best performance to date, beating Chen Feilong, John Astley and Tom Ford to reach the last-16, where he lost to Scott Donaldson. In the Welsh Open he lost 4–1 in the first round to 5-times World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, Zhang sought to return to China on 29 March. His journey included quarantines in both Shanghai and his hometown Yibin, after an internal flight. He finally reached home after almost 1 month of travelling. On 28 June it was announced that he would not be returning to the UK for the World Championship, which had been rescheduled for July.[12][13] This confirmed his relegation from the tour, being ranked outside the top 64.

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2016/
17		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20
Ranking[14][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 85
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters A A LQ WD
International Championship 1R A LQ WD
China Championship NR A LQ LQ
English Open A A 2R 1R
World Open A A LQ LQ
Northern Ireland Open A A 1R 1R
UK Championship A A 1R 1R
Scottish Open A A 3R 4R
European Masters A A 1R LQ
German Masters A A LQ LQ
World Grand Prix DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open A A 2R 1R
Shoot-Out A A 1R 1R
Players Championship DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open A A 2R 1R
Tour Championship Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A A
Non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open 1R A A 2R
Former ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters A LQ Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic A A 2R NR
Indian Open A A LQ NH
China Open A A LQ 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 Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
VF / Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. He was an amateur.
  3. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.

References
  1. "Zhang Jiankang Player Details - World Snooker Live Scores". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com.
  2. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/31518790
  3. https://www.sohu.com/a/305232729_207734
  4. Pathak, Vivek. "China rocks with five centuries before knockout qualification; Zhang missed the MAXIMUM". IBSF.
  5. https://www.clusterofredssnookerblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/16/fan-zhengyi-clinches-the-ibsf-u21-snooker-championship
  6. http://esnooker.pl/turnieje/2017/ms21/en/show_wynik_drabinka.php?id_w=19510
  7. News, Blasting. "QSchool Snooker: Who's hunting for a tour place?".
  8. "Q House Snooker on Twitter".
  9. "World Snooker Team Cup: India in Doha semis - The Peninsula Qatar". www.thepeninsulaqatar.com.
  10. http://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?season=2018&player=2134
  11. http://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?season=2018&template=31
  12. "12 Chinese Players to Miss World Championship".
  13. "Coronavirus: World Snooker Championship at Crucible postponed". BBC Sport. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  14. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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