Li Yan (; born September 17, 1992) is a former professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China.
Li received a wild card for the 2008 Shanghai Masters, losing 1âÂÂ5 to Anthony Hamilton. At the 2009 Shanghai Masters, he defeated Gerard Greene 5âÂÂ4, before losing to Ryan Day in the last 32.
Li qualified for the 2011/2012 professional Main Tour as one of four semi-finalists from the second 2011 Q School event. As a new player on the tour Li would need to win four matches in order to reach the main stage of the ranking tournaments. He accomplished this in qualifying for the second biggest tournament on the snooker calendar, the UK Championship, with wins over Stuart Carrington, Andy Hicks, Jack Lisowski and Fergal O'Brien. He faced former world champion Shaun Murphy in the first round of the event and was beaten 3âÂÂ6. He could not qualify for another tournament for the remainder of the season but did play in all 12 of the PTC events throughout the season reaching, but not progressing past, the last 16 on three occasions.
Li finished the season ranked world number 67, just outside the top 64 who retain their places on the tour. However, due to being ranked 43rd on the PTC Order of Merit he secured one of the eight spots for the highest non-qualified players to play in the 2012/2013 season.
Li only won two matches in ranking event qualifiers in the 2012/2013 season. His best results in the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events were last 16 losses in the third Asian PTC and the fourth European Tour Event, to Stuart Bingham and Rory McLeod respectively. He lost seven consecutive games after this, before beating Robbie Williams 10âÂÂ7 in the first round of World Championship Qualifying, but his season was ended when he lost 10âÂÂ2 to Jimmy Robertson in the following round. Li dropped 17 places in the rankings during the year to finish it at world number 84.
The first ranking tournament Li could qualify for in the 2013/2014 season was the Indian Open by beating Peter Lines 4âÂÂ2. He then edged out Jeff Cundy 4âÂÂ3 to record his first ever win in the main draw of a ranking event, before being thrashed 4âÂÂ0 by John Higgins. Li also qualified for the International Championship and World Open during the season, losing to compatriots Liang Wenbo and Ding Junhui in the first round. He won more than one match in an event for the only time this season in the World Championship qualifiers by defeating Elliot Slessor 10âÂÂ5, Dave Harold 10âÂÂ3 and Joe Swail 10âÂÂ8, to be just one win away from reaching The Crucible for the first time, but he was thoroughly outplayed by Xiao Guodong in a 10âÂÂ1 loss. The result ensured Li would not be among the top 64 in the world rankings who keep their places on the snooker tour as he was ranked number 86 and so he played in Q School in an attempt to earn his place back. Li lost in the last 128 of the first event and the last 32 of the second to confirm his exit from the tour.
Li entered the three Asian Tour events during the 2014/2015 season, but was knocked out in the first round of each. He again entered Q School, but could not win a match in either of the events, losing 4âÂÂ3 to both Daniel Wells and Jamie Clarke.
Li only played in the Haining Open and was eliminated 4âÂÂ1 in the first round by John Higgins.