- The 16-year-old world under-21 women’s champion stuns third-ranked Rebecca Kenna, of England, at the Hong Kong World Women’s Masters
- Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee, world champion Reanne Evans and Thailand’s Mink are also through to the quarter-finals
At just 16, Bai Yulu is prevented from travelling abroad without one of her parents. Once the shackles are off, though, the Dongguan-native plans to take on the world.
She has already done it at under-21 level, having claimed the junior world title in Pingdu, Qindgao in July. And on Friday, she showed just how comfortable she was playing against the world's top players when she beat third-ranked Englishwoman Rebecca Kenna 3-0 in their group A clash at the Hong Kong World Women's Masters at the General Snooker Club in Kowloon.
Accompanied in Hong Kong by her mother Liu Dongling, Bai dominated her pool without dropping a frame, having beaten Hong Kong's Cheung Yee-ting and So Man-yan by 3-0 scorelines on Thursday.
"I feel cold," said Bai following her win, complaining about the air conditioning as she sipped a hot cup of tea.
"I'm happy to be here and playing in these competitions because we don't get that much chance.
"I've played tournaments in Asia but because of my age, it is difficult to play abroad because as a 16-year-old, getting visas is difficult until I am 18. I'm looking forward to playing more against not only the best women but the men as well."
World Snooker is encouraging more young women to join its circuit but they may not have to wait two years for Bai to make her presence felt.
The waif-like teenager, spotted by Dongguan snooker club owner and coach Li Jianbing, says she has been given the all-clear to play ranking events in Europe next year.
Liu said Bai has been playing since she was 10 years ago after being introduced to the game by her snooker-mad father. Recently, they installed a snooker table at home and allowed Bai to skip school so she can practise eight to 10 hours a day.
"She still studies English, Chinese and maths at home," Liu said. "But we feel she has a lot of potential as a snooker player. Of course, the dream is to be the best in the world.
Snooker women have no fears playing in Hong Kong as Reanne Evans and Ng On-yee win opening matches at World Masters
"We are very proud of her after her world under-21 title, hopefully she can go on to do more things in world snooker."
Hong Kong's world number two Ng On-yee was stretched in both her matches on Friday to finish top of group D with three wins. After overcoming a tough challenge from India's Vidya Pillai to triumph 3-2, Ng needed to be at her best again to hold off Belgium's Wendy Jans by the same score.
Thailand's world No 4 Nutcharut Wongharuthai, or Mink, notched the highest break of the tournament so far, 87, on her way to a 3-1 win over Hong Kong's Ho Yee-ki. She then beat Wales' Laura Evans 3-0 to win group C.
Ng, however, faces a tough task in the quarter-finals after she was drawn to play England's world number one Reanne Evans, who was forced to settle for second place in group B after losing to rising Indian star Amee Kamani 3-1.
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