What happened to Cao Yupeng? The three-time ranking finalist who has disappeared from the snooker scene

It's that time of the year when players further down the world rankings are battling to retain their professional status, yet alone keeping alive their World Championship dreams.

Several cueists have already been relegated from the World Snooker Tour this week following losses at the qualifying rounds in Sheffield, with those players now facing a trip to Q School if they want a tour card for next season.

All players ranked inside the world's top 64 after the completion of the 2025 World Snooker Championship are guaranteed a place on the sport's top tier for the 2025/26 term, if they want it. Dominic Dale - who is comfortably inside that cut-off - has confirmed that he will retire after this season, therefore he won't be accepting a card.

Another player who is currently inside the top 64 on the end-of-season list is 34-year-old Chinese Cao, who renewed his WPBSA player membership for this season, but has not played a single match.

Cao last featured in a professional event at last year's World Championship qualifiers where he reached the final qualifying round but was denied a Crucible return as fellow countryman Pang Junxu defeated him 10-8.

During coverage of the final qualifying round, it was suggested that it could be Cao's final event as a professional snooker player as he was weighing up whether to quit the circuit and move back to China to be with his young family.

It was also reported on this Chinese website that Cao said he "would stop playing snooker" during a live broadcast on Douyin.

Last season, Cao enjoyed his second most lucrative campaign as a professional, reaching the final of the Snooker Shoot Out and the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix. In total, he earned £97,000 and finished the term as the world number 35 - his highest-ever ranking.

Due to his inactivity on the pro tour, Cao has slowly slipped down the world rankings, but as the system is based on a two-year rolling cycle, he is still currently inside the top 64 - although only just - and still could be come the conclusion of the Crucible.

If Cao stays inside the cut-off, it will be interesting to see if he renews his player membership again, which he would - by all accounts - be entitled to do.

Cao Yupeng making waves on the Heyball Pool circuit

It appears that Cao’s absence from the World Snooker Tour is because he is now playing on the JOY World Heyball Tour in his homeland.

Heyball - a new name for Chinese 8-Ball Pool - is a kind of hybrid cuesport that has been gaining popularity around the world.

The cuesport is effectively played on a small sized snooker table with snooker pockets, a napped cloth, but with American Pool balls. Simply put, the object is to pot either set of balls - spots or stripes - followed by the eight-ball.

The Heyball circuit has recently expanded with events held all over the globe. The upcoming 2025 World Heyball Masters - seen as the sport’s blue riband tournament - is reported to have a $1.7 million prize fund with $700,000 going to the champion.

Several snooker stars, including Mark Williams, have taken part in competitions on the circuit, with more seemingly to follow.

Cao has been making a big name for himself in the cuesport having participated in several tournaments. Last November, he defeated Zhang Kunpeng 19-17 in the final to win the Leshan Station Super Tour event.

Who is Cao Yupeng? Snooker career highlights and achievements

Cao first qualified for the professional circuit when he won the 2011 Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship in Iran after defeating home hero Hossein Vafaei 7-3 in the final.

At the end of his rookie season, in his first World Championship campaign Cao won four qualifying matches - coming through two deciding frame finishes - to reach the main draw. On his Crucible debut, Cao shocked number 10 seed Mark Allen with a 10-6 victory in round one, before his run was ended by Ryan Day, 13-7, in the last 16.

In a post-match interview after the opening round, Allen accused Cao of dishonesty for not owning up to what he thought was an illegal shot during the tie.

At the 2017 Scottish Open, Cao reached his maiden ranking event final but was agonisingly pipped 9-8 by Neil Robertson, having earlier led 8-4 and missed the final black in frame 16 for the title.

Later in the same season, Cao made his second ranked final at the 2018 Gibraltar Open, but lost 4-0 to Day.

A few months later, Cao was banned from the professional circuit due to match-fixing after he was found guilty of 'manipulating the outcome of matches' by the sport's governing body, the WPBSA.

Having completed his ban in November 2020, Cao requalified for snooker's premier circuit after winning an event on the Chinese domestic circuit in April 2021.

In December 2023, Cao appeared in his third ranking event final at the Snooker Shoot Out, but was denied the trophy by Allen.