Why teenage wonderkid Lan Yuhao stands out after brilliant start to snooker career

There have been some impressive displays from some of the youngest players on the World Snooker Tour so far this season, including from 17-year-old prospect Lan Yuhao.

English teenager Stan Moody was brilliant in beating Ding Junhui and Barry Hawkins on his way to his first ranking quarter-final at the Wuhan Open, while 14-year-old Polish talent, the youngest professional ever, Michal Szubarczyk has already picked up three wins on tour.

Lan is the latest cab off the rank in terms of exciting talents emerging from China and has already caught the eye, having only turned 17 last month.

After facing former World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens in the Championship League at the start of the campaign, the Welsh veteran said of the teenager: ‘He’s got some future, he hits the ball really well.

‘He’s definitely going to be a pain in the future for a lot of players.’

The youngster has quickly become a pain, winning three matches at the big-money Saudi Arabia Masters and then winning two qualifying rounds to reach the Northern Ireland Open next month.

The second of those victories to book his spot in Belfast was a 4-2 triumph over former Shootout champion Michael Holt, who felt Lan had something special about him.

‘Incredible really, he’s obviously got a lot of talent,’ the Hitman told Metro. ‘He’s a bit different and doesn’t play like a lot of the Chinese players, he stands out.

‘They’re usually quite orthodox in the way they set up, but he gets down, he moves a bit on his shot and you can tell he’s playing a lot more on sort of knack rather than structure, which I think is great. I’ve got a soft spot for him already.’

Lan began that win over Holt with a break of 115 in the opening frame and made further runs of 53 and 80.

He has already made four tons this season and the Hitman reckons he is a natural scorer which will give him a great chance to go far in the game.

‘He’s 17 and he’s going out there and playing a decent level, a good level already,’ said Holt. ‘One thing he’s got and is hard to teach is that scoring gene and he’s got it. He can score quick and heavy, which always gives him a chance, because if you’re doing that to someone, it doesn’t matter who’s sitting there. He was 3-1 up in a heartbeat. He can score.’

Holt explains what he means by a scoring gene, saying: ‘Sometimes a player has got it in them to do that. They find that easier.

‘It’s just a way to go about things as far as they see the shots in the balls very quickly. You can see it’s just an instinct. Then they’ll play the shot well because they’ve got full confidence in it.

‘The way he goes about things, you can see that they weren’t always perfect, but when he didn’t land he looked and he saw the next shot pretty quick and he backed himself to do it.’

Lan will have his next chance to prove his talent when he takes on Liam Pullen in the opening round of the English Open on Friday morning and Holt is looking forward to seeing how his mentality is tested as he develops.

‘He’s obviously playing the decent level and he’s only going to get better, but then the next stage will be, has he got that mentality?’ Holt said. ‘Has he got that mindset to be able to do it regularly on the big stage against the best players?

‘That’s why it’s always fascinating to see a young player with that much talent to see how far he can get before they sort of hit that glass ceiling.’

Holt, who will be at the English Open in second round action on Sunday, has also been really impressed with the progress made by Moody, who is already into his third year as a professional despite still being 18 and up to number 57 in the world rankings.

‘He’s improved a lot,’ said the Hitman. ‘He was tested and lost a lot of early matches in his first year, which is fair enough, he was 16. Then the next year, instead of letting it hurt him to the point where it breaks his heart, he’s stepped up. And again, he’s winning matches with scoring. That’s huge.’

Moody awaits the winner of Lan or Pullen in the second round in Brentwood on Sunday.