Xiao Guodong

Xiao at the2015 German Masters
Born	(1989-02-10)10 February 1989 (age 36) Yuzhong,Chongqing, China
Sport country	China
Nickname	X-factor[1]
Professional	2007/2008, 2009–present
Highestranking	8 (August 2025)
Current ranking	12 (as of 9 November 2025)
Maximum breaks	2
Century breaks	328 (as of 23 November 2025)
Tournament wins
Ranking	2
Medal record Representing China Men'ssnooker Asian Indoor Games 2007 Macau Singles 2007 Macau Team 2009 Ho Chi Minh City Six-red singles Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2013 Incheon Six-red singles World Games 2025 Chengdu Singles

Xiao Guodong (Chinese:肖国栋; born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professionalsnooker player who has won two ranking events. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. He won his first ranking event 17 years after first turning professional at the2024 Wuhan Open, beatingSi Jiahui 10–7 in only the third all-Chinese ranking event final.^[2][3] He also took part in the first ever all-Chinese ranking event final, when he lost 6–10 toDing Junhui in the2013 Shanghai Masters.^[4][5] In 2025, he retained his Wuhan Open title, defeatingGary Wilson 10‍–‍9 in the final, becoming only the fourth player in professional snooker history to defend their maiden ranking title, afterJohn Parrott,Mark Allen and Wilson himself.^[6][7]

Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the2007 China Open, and beat the then world number 50Tom Ford 5–3, before losing 0–5 toMatthew Stevens.

In his first ranking tournament, the2007 Grand Prix he finished 4th in his qualifying group by winning 3 out his 7 matches. In the2007 Northern Ireland Trophy he beatLeo Fernandez 5-1 andJimmy White 5–0, before he lost toDavid Gilbert 2–5.

He lost his first match in the2007 UK Championship toKurt Maflin and to the same player in the2008 China Open qualifiers too. In theWelsh Open he lost to fellow Chinese playerLiu Song 2–5.

A victory overMunraj Pal in the2008 World Championship qualifiers set up a match withDavid Roe, which he lost 5–10.

Xiao won the Paul Hunter English Open in 2008.

In the2009 China Open, he beatMichael Holt 5–3 in the wild-card round, progressing to the first round proper where he beat fellow Chinese playerDing Junhui 5–3. He gave three-time world championRonnie O'Sullivan a tough game in the next round as O'Sullivan began the match with two successive centuries before Xiao rallied to trail just 4–3, but lost the next frame to bow out of the tournament.^[8]

On 10 July 2009, on theWorld Snooker website, Xiao was voted in the Top 5 players to watch out for in the2009–10 season.

Xiao had a good season in thePlayers Tour Championship series of tournaments in the2011–12 season. He reached the quarter-finals ofEvent 1 andEvent 6 and went one better inEvent 2, where he was knocked out in the last 4 against compatriotDing Junhui. The results ensured he reached the2012 Finals by finishing eighteenth in theOrder of Merit.^[9] He played in the Finals against the advice of doctors as he had broken a bone in his hand three weeks earlier whilst sleeping on it awkwardly, but despite this beatDominic Dale 4–2 in the first round of the event.^[10][11] Xiao then pulled off the result of his career to date by defeating recentUK champion,Judd Trump 4–2 to advance to his first ever ranking event quarter-final, where he was beaten byAndrew Higginson 1–4.^[10][12]

Xiao could not qualify for any of the other ranking events during the season, coming closest in theUK Championship, where he lost toTom Ford in the final qualifying round.^[12] He finished the season ranked world number 41, meaning he had risen 23 places during the year.^[13]

Xiao qualified for theAustralian Goldfields Open and theGerman Masters during the2012–13 season, losing in the first round in both toBarry Hawkins andKurt Maflin respectively.^[14] He took advantage of the newAsian Players Tour Championship events by taking part in all three of them. He had his best result in thesecond event by defeating the likes ofMarco Fu andBarry Hawkins to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 2–4 toStephen Lee.^[14] His performances helped him to eighth on the Asian PTC Order of Merit, high enough to qualify for theFinals.^[15] There, Xiao reached the quarter-finals for the second successive year with wins overGraeme Dott andAlfie Burden, before losing 1–4 toNeil Robertson.^[16] Xiao's season came to an end when he lost 4–10 toJimmy White in the third round ofWorld Championship Qualifying, but he finished the year ranked world number 37, at the time his highest position.^[17][18]

In his opening match of the season, Xiao defeatedAndrew Norman 5–3 to qualify for the2013 Wuxi Classic inChina where he beatPeter Ebdon 5–3 in the first round andLi Hang 5–4 in the second.^[19] He then facedJohn Higgins in the last 16 and was whitewashed 0–5.^[20] Xiao could also not pick up a frame in the first round of theAustralian Goldfields Open, as he lost 0–5 toJoe Perry.^[19] He won three matches to qualify for theShanghai Masters and once there defeated Yuan Siyun 5–0 in the wildcard round.^[19] Xiao took advantage of a poor performance byStephen Maguire in the first round to beat him 5–2 and then saw offPeter Lines 5–3.^[21] He continued his run to make the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time as he came back from 4–2 down to beatMark Davis 5–4 citing afterwards his work withTerry Griffiths as being a key factor in his success.^[22] In the semis he playedMichael Holt who was also making his ranking event semi-final debut and from 3–3 Xiao made a break of 111, added the next frame and then closed the match out 6–3 with a 127 break.^[23] He playedDing Junhui in a first all-Chinese ranking final and was beaten 10–6, but the runner-up's cheque of £35,500 is the highest of his career to date and he also broke into the world's top 32 for the first time.^[24]

His second quarter-final appearance of the season came at theGerman Masters but he lost 5–2 toRyan Day.^[25] Xiao's rise up the world rankings meant he only needed to win one match to reach theWorld Championship and he did so in emphatic fashion by thrashingLi Yan 10–1.^[26] In Xiao's debut in the event he rallied from 4–1 down againstAli Carter to end the first session 5–4 behind, but went on to lose 10–8.^[27] Xiao's rise up the rankings continued as he ended the campaign as the world number 23, an increase of 14 spots from the start of the season.^[28]

At theAustralian Goldfields Open, Xiao recorded wins overLiam Highfield,Peter Ebdon andMatthew Stevens to reach the semi-finals of a ranking event for the second time, whereJudd Trump defeated him 6–3.^[29][30] He beatEden Sharav andNoppon Saengkham at theInternational Championship, but lost 6–4 toRobert Milkins in the third round and was knocked out by the same scoreline in the second round of theUK Championship againstMatthew Selt.^[31] After edging Highfield 5–4 in the first round of theGerman Masters, Xiao was thrashed 5–0 byNeil Robertson.^[32] Xiao won five matches at theShoot-Out, the tournament where every match is decided by one ten-minute frame, to reach the final. Xiao lost the lead with just six seconds remaining againstMichael White.^[33] He progressed through to the final qualifying round of theWorld Championship and his match againstJimmy Robertson went into a deciding frame which Robertson won on the final pink.^[34]

After having a high enough ranking to gain automatic entry into theAustralian Goldfields Open (where he lost 5–3 toIan Burns in the first round) Xiao's ranking steadily declined during the season as he could not get beyond the last 48 of any ranking event.^[35] He dropped 30 places to end it 51st in the world.^[36]

At theRiga Masters, Xiao beatGareth Allen 4–0 andJamie Jones andDavid Gilbert both 4–2 to reach his first ranking event quarter-final in two years. He lost 4–2 toDarren Morgan. Xiao defeatedMichael Holt 4–1,Noppon Saengkham 4–0 andNeil Robertson 4–3 at theEnglish Open, before being eliminated 4–3 byChris Wakelin in the fourth round. During his second round match withShaun Murphy at theScottish Open, Xiao made a 132 break, the 100th century of his career and went on to win 4–1. He lost by a reversal of this scoreline toMark Davis in the subsequent round.^[37] This was the first year that theShoot-Out, the tournament where every match is settled by a 10-minute frame played under a shot clock, had its status upgraded to a ranking event. In his quarter-final match withDavid Gilbert, Xiao ran out of time when potting a yellow but the foul was not picked up by the referee.^[38] He won the match and reached the final of the event for the second time and lost by 67–19 points toAnthony McGill.^[39] Three comfortable victories saw Xiao qualify for theWorld Championship and he beatRyan Day 10–4 in round one, before losing 13–6 toMark Selby.^[40][41][42]

Xiao reached three quarter-finals, but had victories overJohn Higgins,Mark Allen andMark Selby (twice). He qualified for theWorld Championship, but lost toDing Junhui 10–3. He finished the season ranked 39.

Xiao missed two tournaments in August due to pneumonia. His best results came in theWorld Open (quarter final) and theWorld Grand Prix (semi-final). In the World Championship Qualifiers, he was unhappy when his opponent,Michael Judge played on for 20 minutes needing 8 snookers in the 8th frame. The session was duly suspended at 4-4, and Judge ultimately won 10–9. Xiao finished the season ranked 25.

From the start of the 2019-20 season, Xiao failed to reach the business end of most tournaments he entered, with only a single semi-final reached in the2020 Gibraltar Open, which had been severely impacted due to the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic. He did reach the quarter-final of the behind-closed-doors staging of the2021 Gibraltar Open, but continued struggling for results in most events he was entering.

His results started to improve from the2023 German Masters, in which he reached back-to-back quarter-finals of both that event and the following2023 World Grand Prix. Although starting the2023–24 snooker season as the world number 41, he began struggling for results again, with only one semi-final appearance at the2023 British Open to show for his efforts, but the lack of events that had been played at this point meant he climbed to end the season as the world number 34.

The2024–25 snooker season would prove to be significant in Xiao's career. At the inauguralSaudi Arabia Snooker Masters held near the start of the season, he reached the quarter-finals but lost toShaun Murphy. In the2024 Wuhan Open, he reached the main stages by beatingHaydon Pinhey in qualifying 5–1, then proceeded to defeatAndrew Pagett, the then-reigning World ChampionKyren Wilson,Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy -- in a performance which included three back-to-back century breaks and restricting Murphy to just 21 points in the first four frames -- andLong Zehuang to reach the final of a ranking event for the first time since the2017 Snooker Shoot Out. There, he metSi Jiahui who was making his second appearance in a ranking event final and who had made his maidenmaximum break in the previous round. Although Si scored four century breaks in the final, the experience of Xiao over the seasons -- despite rarely reaching the final of tournaments -- prevailed as he defeated his compatriot 10–7 to win his first ever ranking title on the World Snooker Tour.

While the form that took Xiao to the title dried up over the next four tournaments with three first-round exits, his form returned in another event played in China: the2024 International Championship, in which he defeated two former World Championship semi-finalists --Ricky Walden andMark Allen -- to reach the semi-finals, where he lost in a decider toChris Wakelin.

His title victory in Wuhan permitted him to be invited to the2024 Champion of Champions, an event which Xiao had never previously competed in. In the Group Semi-Finals, he faced four-time tournament winnerRonnie O'Sullivan: in the first three frames, Xiao failed to score a point as his opponent raced to a 3–0 lead. Despite losing the first three frames, Xiao hit back immediately by restricting O'Sullivan to just 7 points with three one-visit contributions which included a 130 century break, forcing a decider in which he won 4–3. In the Group Final that evening, he defeated another former World Champion inMark Selby in his second consecutive decider 6–5, taking the decider with a contribution of 58. In the semi-finals, he proceeded to defeat Mark Allen 6–3, despite no century breaks being produced by either player in the match, to reach his first ever Champion of Champions final, doing so on his debut. His opponent in the final was three-time World ChampionMark Williams, but Xiao was unable to convert his chances and lost 10–6.

Xiao played in the2024 UK Championship as a seeded player for the first time, but lost in the first round, which denied him an opportunity to make a debut at the2025 Masters in January. Despite that, he reached back-to-back semi-finals at the2024 Scottish Open, losing 6–4 to runner-upWu Yize, and the2025 German Masters, losing to the eventual champion Kyren Wilson.

He competed in the firstPlayers Series event of the season, reaching the quarter-finals of the2025 World Grand Prix -- which was being played in Hong Kong for the first time -- but lost to newly-crowned Scottish Open championLei Peifan. His success in the season meant he competed in the2025 Players Championship and the2025 Tour Championship: in both cases, he lost in the quarter-finals toJohn Higgins.

For the first time, Xiao was a Top 16 seed for the2025 World Snooker Championship, having previously reached theCrucible Theatre three times as a qualifier. He won his first round match 10–4 by defeating Matthew Selt, reaching the second round for only the second time in his career. For the third time in just two months, Xiao faced John Higgins: despite lacking significant experience in competing in a best-of-25 frames match, he took Higgins all the way to a decider, but lost 13–12, ending the season as the world number 13 and securing his entry to the invitational2025 Shanghai Masters in the new season as a seeded player.

After reaching the quarter-finals of theShanghai Masters,^[43] Xiao opted not to compete at theSaudi Arabia Masters in order to take part in the2025 World Games, where he won gold in themen's snooker event.^[44] He entered theWuhan Open as defending champion and retained his title with a 10–9 victory overGary Wilson, claiming his second ranking title and rising to a career high of 8th in the world rankings.^[45][6][7]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	2013	Shanghai Masters	Ding Junhui	6–10	[24]
Runner-up	2.	2017	Snooker Shoot Out	Anthony McGill	0–1	[46]
Winner	1.	2024	Wuhan Open	Si Jiahui	10–7
Winner	2.	2025	Wuhan Open(2)	Gary Wilson	10–9

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	2015	Snooker Shoot Out	Michael White	0–1	[47]
Runner-up	2.	2024	Champion of Champions	Mark Williams	6–10
Winner	1.	2025	World Games	Michael Georgiou	2–1

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2008	Paul Hunter English Open	Ben Woollaston	6–2
Winner	2.	2009	Asian Indoor Games	Liang Wenbo	5–2
Winner	3.	2013	Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games	Amir Sarkhosh	5–4

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Winner	1.	2007	Asian Under-21 Amateur Championship	Chinnakrit Yoawansiri	6–2	[48]
Winner	2.	2008	PIOS – Event 2	Noppadol Sangnil	6–5
Winner	3.	2009	PIOS – Event 6	Jack Lisowski	6–0
Winner	4.	2011	China Snooker Tour Finals	Chen Feilong	5–0	[49]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toXiao Guodong.

• Xiao Guodong atWPBSA
• Xiao Guodong at theWorld Snooker Tour
• Xiao Guodong at Snooker.org

• 1989 births
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• Chinese snooker players
• 21st-century Chinese sportsmen
• Competitors at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games
• Competitors at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games
• Competitors at the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games

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