Xu Yichen is from
Changsha,
Hunan Province. On September 18, 2016, he won the 2016 National Amateur Snooker Masters. He also won a wildcard into the
2016 Shanghai Masters. At the Shanghai Masters, also in September 2016, he was on the receiving end of a maximum 147 break as he lost 5-0 to
Stephen Maguire. At the Asia Oceania Q School in May 2025 he defeated
Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon of Thailand 4-3 and Pakistan's Babar Masih to win a two-year card on the
World Snooker Tour. His final round win over Masih was described as dramatic, and was only secured on the final black in the deciding frame. His eligibility is from the
2025-26 snooker season.
2025–26 season He was drawn in the round-robin stage of the
2025 Championship League against
Matthew Stevens,
Ryan Day and compatriot
Lan Yuhao. He reached the last-64 of the
2025 Xi'an Grand Prix in September 2025, with a 5-4 win over
Jack Lisowski, recovering a 4-1 deficit. In April, he recorded a 10-4 win over
Stuart Carrington in the first round of qualifying for the
2026 World Snooker Championship.{{cite web|url=https://snookerhq.com/2026/04/08/ken-doherty-last-match-snooker-professional/|website=Snookerhq|accessdate=8 April 2026|title= Did Ken Doherty just play his last match as a snooker professional? ==Performance and rankings timeline==