Chinese snooker wonderkid set for professional debut after winning maiden tour card in sensational fashion

The 18-year-old is set to make his full-time debut on the professional snooker circuit from next term after earning a two-year tour card through the domestic scene in China.

Each season, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association's (CBSA) national snooker tour provides a direct pathway to the sport's big time, with the top two players from this ranking list winning their professional stripes.

This year, those tour cards have been awarded to Wang and Luo Zetao, who are both expected to take up their positions on the World Snooker Tour for the 2026/27 season which starts next month with the qualifying rounds for the China Open and Wuhan Open, and the opening phase of the Championship League Ranking Event.

It seemed like only a matter of time before teenager Wang would get on to the pro tour after a plethora of impressive displays on the amateur circuit and as an invited wildcard for several top tier competitions.

Wang recently won a CBSA domestic event held in Wuhan where he sensationally whitewashed current professional player Chang Bingyu - who reached this season's Scottish Open final and made a 147 at world championship qualifying - 5-0 in the final, making breaks of 79, 110, 141, 122 and 141, with all those centuries coming in consecutive frames. In previous rounds, Wang registered several other tons.

Earlier this year, Wang - who turned 18 in January - reached the finals of both the World Snooker Federation Junior and open Championships in Bulgaria - the latter competition is effectively the modern-day world amateur championship. With pro tour tickets on offer in both events, Wang was denied silverware by Michael Larkov and Hammad Miah, respectively, but did enough to earn an invite for the 2026 World Snooker Championship qualifying rounds held in Sheffield a few months later.

In the preliminary phase of this year's blue riband extravaganza, Wang compiled four century breaks in navigating the opening two rounds, although his Crucible debut dream was dashed by the then world number 17 Stuart Bingham, who won 10-2, in the penultimate qualifying round.

This wasn't the first example, though, of Wang defeating fully fledged professional players as an invited amateur into top-flight competition. In recent years, Wang has been a wildcard for a number of professional ranking events held on home soil in China, and has picked up several victories, including during this season. At the Shanghai Masters invitational last summer, Wang took top 16 player and compatriot Si Jiahui close before succumbing to a 6-4 defeat.

Wang's younger brother Xinzhong could also soon be joining him on the World Snooker Tour. Xinzhong - who turned 15 in December - defeated professionals Bai Yulu and Robbie Williams at this season's International Championship, and nearly caused a big upset before being ousted by Shaun Murphy, 6-5, in the last 64.

Xinzhong has entered the upcoming 2026 Asia-Oceania Q School taking place in Bangkok where there are four WST tour cards on offer across two events.

At last year's Asia-Oceania Q School in the Thai capital, Luo narrowly missed out on a card after losing 4-3 to Liu Wenwei at the final hurdle. However, the 25-year-old can now look forward to joining the world's elite for the first time.