Early years Yan Bingtao was born on 16 February 2000 in the city of
Zibo, in
Shandong province, China. in Asian
Players Tour Championship events, This win earned him a two-year professional card for the
2015–16 and
2016–17 seasons. He was selected for the Chinese B team in the
2015 Snooker World Cup, with
Zhou Yuelong as his teammate. China B started as 50/1 outsiders but they topped their group, knocking out England in the process, before beating Australia and Wales in the knock-out stages, and Scotland in the final. Between them they pocketed a cheque for US$200,000. Defeated finalist
Stephen Maguire stated that he believed he had watched two future world champions. Shortly afterwards it was announced that Yan's tour card would be deferred until the 2016–17 season in order for him to complete his education in China and become eligible for a working visa. He did though play in the
Champion of Champions for which he gained entry through his World Cup win and, on his debut in the UK, he beat
Shaun Murphy 4–2, before losing 3–6 to
Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals. Yan finished the year by winning the San Yuan Cup, an amateur Chinese competition, in
Chengdu, beating
Jin Long 5–4 in the final.
2016–17 season A trio of deciding frame wins saw Yan reach the fourth round of the
Paul Hunter Classic, where he lost 1–4 to
Dominic Dale. He also got to the same stage of the
English Open with a 4–3 victory over
Mark Allen, but again was beaten 4–1 this time by
Ricky Walden. His third last 16 exit of the season came at the
Northern Ireland Open as he was edged out 4–3 by
Anthony Hamilton. After knocking out
Liang Wenbo 6–4 in the second round of the
UK Championship, Yan met World Cup partner Zhou and was defeated 5–6. Yan qualified for the
German Masters by overcoming
Sam Baird 5–1 and
Shaun Murphy 5–4 and at the venue beat Dale 5–2 and
Michael Holt 5–1 to reach the first ranking event quarter-final of his career, which he lost 2–5 to
Stuart Bingham. Yan defeated world number one
Mark Selby 4–1 in the third round of the
Welsh Open, before being knocked out by a reversal of this scoreline to
Kurt Maflin. Yan became the second youngest player to compete at the
World Championship which he qualified for by beating
Sam Craigie 10–8,
Mark Davis 10–7 and
Alexander Ursenbacher 10–4. He won his first frame at the
Crucible with a century break, but was 3–6 down to
Shaun Murphy after the opening session. Yan was also 5–9 behind, but won three frames in a row without Murphy potting a ball. He had a good advantage in the 18th frame, but Murphy fluked a red and then cleared the table to eliminate Yan 10–8. At the end of his debut campaign as a professional he was 56th in the world rankings, the second highest of all the players that started the year with no ranking points.
2017–18 season Following his debut, Yan had another successful campaign in the
2017–18 season. His wins over
Ronnie O'Sullivan,
Ricky Walden,
Jack Lisowski, and
John Higgins, saw him make his first career semi final, where he lost 2–9 to
Mark Allen. He then reached his first career final in the
Northern Ireland Open later that month, beating the likes of
Robbie Williams, Jamie Barrett,
Mark King,
Ryan Day,
Robert Milkins, and
Lyu Haotian along the way, before losing 8–9 to
Mark Williams. His world ranking rose rapidly again, standing at 23rd by the end of the season.
2018–19 season Yan's performance in the
2018–19 season perhaps was not as strong as the previous season, but his consistency helped his world ranking to climb to 21st.
2019–20 season – First ranking title This season was Yan's best career season yet. He reached one quarter final, four semi finals, and one final. In addition, Yan defeated
Mark Joyce 5–2 in the
Riga Masters final to claim his maiden ranking title, becoming the youngest title winner since
Ding Junhui won the 2006 Northern Ireland Open. Later in the season, Yan reached the final stage of the
World Snooker Championship again, but lost to
Judd Trump in the second round.
2020–21 season – Masters champion Yan secured his first triple crown event title at the
Masters after beating
Neil Robertson,
Stephen Maguire,
Stuart Bingham, and
John Higgins. He became the first debutant to win the tournament since
Mark Selby in 2008, and the second Chinese winner of the event after
Ding Junhui lifted the title in 2011. He also became the youngest player (20 years old) to win the tournament since
Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1995. ==Performance and rankings timeline==