 Cao at the2016 Paul Hunter Classic | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1990-10-27)27 October 1990 (age 35) Guangzhou,Guangdong, China | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport country |  China | ||||||||||||||
| Professional | 2011–2018, 2021–present | ||||||||||||||
| Highestranking | 35 (May 2024) | ||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 68 (as of 9 November 2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Maximum breaks | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Best ranking finish | Runner-up (x3) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Cao Yupeng | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 曹宇鹏 | ||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 曹宇鵬 | ||||||||||||
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Cao Yupeng (Chinese:曹宇鹏; born 27 October 1990) is aChinese professionalsnooker player. He won the 2011 Asian Under-21 Championship, thus qualifying for the professional main tour for the2011–12 season.[1] In his first season on the circuit, he reached the last 16 of theWorld Championship.
He served a ban formatch-fixing from 25 May 2018 until 24 November 2020.[2] He received the ban on 1 December 2018, after pleading guilty to manipulating the outcome of matches.[3]
Cao was selected as a wild card for theChina Open twice, losing toStuart Pettman in2009 andKurt Maflin in2011. In April 2011, he beatHossein Vafaei 7–3 in the final of theAsian Under-21 Championship,[4] and in doing so earned a place on the main professional snooker tour for the2011–12 season.[5]
Cao qualified for the2012 World Snooker Championship in his debut season after defeatingKurt Maflin 10–2,Dave Harold 10–9 (coming back from 6–9 down),Nigel Bond 10–7 andTom Ford 10–9 in the qualifying rounds. At the venue stage he put in an outstanding performance beatingMark Allen (world number 11) 10–6 to reach the last 16. After the match, Allen accused Cao of dishonesty following what he perceived as a foul shot which Cao did not own up to when he was leading 5–4.[6] Allen also said that "blatant cheating" might be "a bit of a trait for the Chinese players".[7] Television replays of the incident proved inconclusive; Cao stated that he did not remember the shot, for he was focusing on the game.[6] Allen later apologised for his remarks, admitting that he had "overstepped the line".[7] Cao playedRyan Day in his next match and trailed 7–9 going into the final session, when his opponent won four straight frames in just over an hour to result in a 7–13 defeat.[8] Cao finished the season ranked world number 70, outside of the top 64 who retain their places on the snooker tour.[9] However, he was awarded the second nomination from the Chinese national governing body for a spot in the2012–13 season.[10]
Cao qualified for the second ranking event of the season, theAustralian Goldfields Open, by beatingPaul Davison,Alfie Burden andMike Dunn all by 5–2 scorelines.[11] He received a bye in the final qualifying round due toAnthony Hamilton's withdrawal,[12] and then came through a wild-card match against Johl Younger once in Australia to reach the last 32.[11] He facedAli Carter and raced into a 4–0 lead before withstanding a fightback, eventually going on to win 5–3.[13] Cao was beaten 5–4 byMartin Gould in the second round, without there ever being more than a frame between the players. He made a 143 break in the sixth frame, the highest of his career to date.[14] A month later, Cao won three qualifying matches to reach theInternational Championship, played inChengdu, in his homeland.[11] He saw off Wang Yuchen in the wild-card round, before beating four-time world championJohn Higgins in the first round, to set up a rematch with Mark Allen, following their clash at the end of last season.[15] It was Allen who triumphed this time, with a 6–2 win.[16]
He also came through three matches to qualify for theUK Championship for the first time.[11] He was beaten 5–1 byMark Davis in the first round inYork.[17] Cao could only win one more match during the rest of the season, culminating in the second round ofWorld Championship Qualifying where he lost 10–7 toZhang Anda, meaning he was unable to repeat last year's run toThe Crucible.[18] He was ranked world number 66 in the end of season rankings.[19]
Cao reached the first quarter-final of his career at the2013 Wuxi Classic, the opening ranking event of the2013–14 season.[20] He qualified by defeatingPaul Davison 5–1 and then saw offMichael White 5–3, world number eightBarry Hawkins 5–4 andBen Woollaston 5–3.[21] He faced world number one,Neil Robertson and, although he led 4–3 and made five breaks above 50 in five separate frames during the match, he was edged out 5–4. This was the closest match Robertson had and he ultimately went on to win the title.[22] Cao won the first title of his career in winning the gold medal in the men's singles at theAsian Indoor and Martial Arts Games by beatingDing Junhui 4–2 in the final.[23] Cao qualified for four more ranking events during the season but lost in the first round in each one, coming closest to progressing at theInternational Championship when he came back from 5–2 down against Ding to level before losing the final frame.[21][24] All 128 players on the snooker tour earned automatic entry into the first round of theWelsh Open with Cao seeing offDavid Grace 4–2, but then lost another deciding frame in the next round this time against world number five, Hawkins.[25] Cao's world ranking went up 20 places during the season as finished it as the number 46.[26]
He came close to reaching the quarter-finals of theWuxi Classic for the second season in a row, after he defeatedMark King 5–1 andRicky Walden 5–3, stating that he done some body building, jogging and gym work to try to improve his game.[27] He lost 5–1 toRobin Hull in the last 16.[28] He was knocked out in the first round of theUK Championship 6–4 byLyu Haotian and beatCraig Steadman 4–2 at theWelsh Open.[29] He won two frames to force a decider in the second round against Mark Allen, which Cao lost.[30] Cao also qualified for theIndian Open andChina Open, but was eliminated in the first round of both.[29] He dropped 14 places in the world rankings to 60th, but inside the top 64 who remain on tour.[31]
Cao qualified for theInternational Championship with a 6–2 win overLiam Highfield, but was beaten 6–2 byTian Pengfei in the first round. He could only win a total of four matches all season, finishing 72nd in the world rankings.[32] This meant that Cao had to enterQ School and he earned his place back on the tour at the first event with five match wins.[33]
Cao was on a losing streak of 11 matches until he played in theShoot-Out where he knocked out three players, before being defeated by David Grace. Aside from that, he only won two matches during the season.[34]
Cao notched his first-ever maximum break in tournament play in the second round of the Scottish Open. He became only the third player from mainland China to achieve the feat, following Ding Junhui andLiang Wenbo.[35] Cao later reached the final of the Scottish Open, the first ranking final in his career. He built up a lead of 8–4 until his opponent, Neil Robertson, won the final five frames in dramatic fashion to defeat Cao by 9–8.[36] In the same season Cao reached the semi-finals of theEuropean Masters (losing to eventual championJudd Trump) and his second final, theGibraltar Open, where he lost 4–0 to Ryan Day.
He was suspended from the tour on 25 May 2018, alongsideYu Delu andDavid John, pending an investigation into suspected match fixing.[37] After admitting to fixing three matches in 2016, Cao was suspended from professional play for thirty months by theWPBSA.
Cao's ban expired in November 2020, but he was unable to play in the professional circuit as a top-up so entered into the CBSA China Tour. He regained his professional tour card having defeated Liu Hongyu 4–3 in the CBSA China Tours' second qualifying event, alongside former professionalZhang Anda.[38]
Despite having been suspended from the World Snooker Tour for three years, Cao had a relatively good start to his campaign in the2021 Championship League and the2021 British Open, with good performances in his matches throughout the season as a whole. Although he did not progress past the third round of any tournament, he had reached the cusp of the Top 64 by the2022 World Snooker Championship, being seeded 70th in the qualifying round.
Cao is based inGloucester, England, during the snooker season.[20]
| Tournament | 2008/ 09 | 2010/ 11 | 2011/ 12 | 2012/ 13 | 2013/ 14 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | 2018/ 19 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | 2025/ 26 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | [nb 4] | 66 | 46 | 60 | [nb 5] | 89 | 38[nb 6] | [nb 3] | 65 | 40 | 35 | 62 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | 3R | RR | 3R | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 2R | LQ | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | LQ | 1R | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | Not Held | 2R | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | 1R | A | Not Held | 1R | A | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 3R | LQ | LQ | A | |||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | NH | Non-Ranking Event | 4R | QF | A | 2R | 3R | F | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Not Held | MR | Not Held | 1R | F | A | LQ | 1R | 1R | A | |||||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters | NH | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | A | |||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | NR | DNQ | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | SF | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 7] | NH | A | DNQ | 1R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | LQ | LQ | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | 2R | LQ | A | |||||||||||||||||
| World Open[nb 8] | A | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | Not Held | 1R | 3R | A | Not Held | 2R | A | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | A | A | 2R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | |||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuxi Classic[nb 9] | Non-Ranking Event | LQ | QF | 3R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Goldfields Open | Not Held | LQ | 2R | LQ | LQ | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | A | A | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | 2R | NR | Not Held | Non-Ranking | |||||||||||||||||||
| Riga Masters[nb 10] | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Ranking | A | 1R | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | PA | Minor-Ranking Event | 2R | A | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Championship | Tournament Not Held | NR | 1R | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | 1R | NH | LQ | 1R | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Open | WR | WR | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | LQ | LQ | 3R | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkish Masters | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | MR | A | F | A | 2R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 3R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | SF | A | 1R | LQ | LQ | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hainan Classic | NH | RR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuxi Classic[nb 9] | A | A | 1R | Ranking Event | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | NH | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | Ranking Event | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship[nb 11] | A | A | NH | A | RR | A | A | A | A | A | NH | LQ | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||
| Haining Open | Tournament Not Held | Minor-Ranking | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
| PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. | |||
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | Scottish Open |  Neil Robertson | 8–9 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2018 | Gibraltar Open |  Ryan Day | 0–4 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2023 | Snooker Shoot Out |  Mark Allen | 0–1 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2011 | HK Spring Trophy | Liang Wenbo | 6–5[39] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2015 | General Cup Qualifying Event | Zhang Anda | 4–5 |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2013 | Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games | Ding Junhui | 4–2 |
| Winner | 2. | 2017 | Baoying Open | Chang Bingyu | 5–4[40] |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2011 | ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship |  Hossein Vafaei | 7–3 |
