Who are the best Asian snooker players of all time?

This piece lists the top players from the continent of Asia, highlighting which Asian players have taken home the sport’s major trophies.

Ding Junhui (China)

China’s Ding Junhui is far ahead of the others as the most successful and influential Asian player in snooker history. His breakthrough came in 2005, winning the China Open and the UK Championship, causing a huge escalation in snooker interest in his home nation.

Ding has since cemented his position as the greatest player from Asia with two more UK Championship titles in 2009 and 2019, alongside a Masters title in 2011. In 2016, he became the first-ever Asian player to reach the World Championship final, losing out to Mark Selby.

Ding’s contribution to snooker extends much further than his personal accolades, his arrival in the sport in the early 2000s contributed enormously to the global rise of snooker - inspiring a wave of Chinese talent that has taken the sport by storm in recent years.

James Wattana (Thailand)

In the late 1980s, professional snooker saw its first Asian player of significance with the arrival of Thailand’s James Wattana.

Wattana became the first Asian snooker player to make a major dent in the sport, winning three ranking titles and reaching an impressive world number three. His wins at the Thailand Open in 1994 and 1995, along with runs to the semi-finals of the World Championship in 1993 and 1997 contributed towards popularising snooker in Thailand, making way for future ranking event winners Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Noppon Saengkham.

To this day, Wattana remains the only Thai player to have reached the top 10 in the world’s rankings and a flagbearer for snooker in the Far East.

Marco Fu (Hong Kong)

Hong Kong’s Marco Fu is another player who has made a significant contribution to Asia’s burgeoning snooker history, as one of the continent’s most successful players to date.

Fu has reached the finals of the Masters and UK Championship, twice reaching the semi-finals of the World Championship. The Hongkonger holds impressive numbers as one of the best break-builders in the sport’s history - accumulating over 500 century breaks and compiling five maximum breaks.

Despite Fu’s recent career being hampered by problems with sight - consequently requiring eye surgery - he remains a respected player on the tour.

Yan Bingtao (China)

Yan Bingtao became the youngest Masters champion since Ronnie O’Sullivan with his victory over John Higgins in the final of the 2021 Masters, announcing his arrival as one of China’s great cueists.

The following year Yan reached the quarter-finals at the World Championship, however, his promising career was cut short after a match-fixing investigation by the WPBSA. Yan was found guilty and banned from participating on the World Snooker Tour for 5 years - in effect until December 2027.

His composed style of play and high-level safety play made him a formidable opponent, with many tipping him to become a future world champion before his expulsion from the sport.

Zhao Xintong (China)

Another Chinese player who was banned in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal, Zhao Xintong also promised to be the continent’s next superstar.

Zhao ascended the world rankings before winning his maiden Triple Crown title at the 2021 UK Championship, stunning the snooker world with attacking play and immense natural talent. Zhao followed up this victory with another title at the German Masters in 2022, threatening to be a dominant force in the sport before receiving a 20-month ban for his participation in the scandal.

Following the expiration of his ban, Zhao won four consecutive Q Tour events to top the secondary tier’s rankings and book a return to the professional circuit for the 2025/26 season.

Zhang Anda (China)

Nicknamed “Mighty Mouse”, the diminutive Chinese player has powered to world number 10 and established himself as a match for anyone on the snooker circuit.

In 2023/24, Zhang experienced a breakthrough season, winning the 2023 International Championship and reaching the final at the English Open and Players Championship. He has also hit three maximum breaks in the last three years, including one in the 2024 UK Championship and one in the final of his maiden ranking event at the International Championship in Tianjin.

At the time of writing, Zhang currently sits just one place below Ding Junhui in the world rankings, as he threatens to take his crown as the continent’s premium player.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand)

Thailand’s Un-Nooh is known for being one of the fastest players on tour, with an average shot time of around 17 seconds. His ultra-attacking play and quick potting ability contributed to his rise to being one of snooker’s most entertaining players and has achieved a maximum break on four occasions.

Winning the Snooker Shoot Out and getting to the final of the World Open (both in 2019) helped Un-Nooh break into the top 16 in 2020, but has not been able to maintain such form since. His lightning-fast playstyle is often let down by slack play in his safety department, which prevents him from progressing further in major tournaments, although, Un-Nooh remains a great player to watch and a fantastic ambassador for Asian snooker.

Hossein Vafaei (Iran)

Outside of China, Hong Kong and Thailand, impactful players on the professional snooker tour have been few and far between. Hossein Vafaei made snooker history as the first player from Iran to compete on the professional circuit when he turned professional in 2012, as a consequence putting his country on the map regarding cue sports.

Vafaei made more history in 2022 when he won his first ranking title at the Shoot Out, aiding him to subsequently break into the world’s top 16 for the first time.

He qualified for the Masters in 2023 (making the quarter-finals) and has played at the Crucible on multiple occasions.

Liang Wenbo (China)

Liang was thrown off the professional circuit in disgrace in 2023 as he received a lifetime ban from the sport’s authorities for his prominent role in the Chinese match-fixing scandal that came to light several months earlier.

A former top 16 star and UK Championship finalist, Liang was the second player from mainland China to win a ranking event - at the 2016 English Open. Alongside Ding Junhui, Liang twice (2011, 2017) won the World Cup for his country.

Pankaj Advani (India)

Perhaps a left field inclusion for some considering his very short time on snooker’s professional circuit, India’s multi-talented Advani is one of Asia’s most decorated cueists of all time, and his sporting achievements have been recognised by his government with several awards.

A multiple-time world billiards champion in various formats, Advani’s snooker career CV in the amateur game is heavily stacked having won multiple Asian Championships, and three World Amateur Snooker Championships. He has also claimed continental and world titles in the 6-reds discipline.

While China’s investment in grassroots structures almost guarantees the continuation of its conveyor belt of snooker talent, will we see the emergence of another great snooker nation in the Asian continent?

As we have seen with Ding Junhui in snooker and Efren Reyes in pool, it only takes the arrival of one iconic player to elevate a cue sport across an entire nation - who will be next?