Zhang Anda (; born 25 December 1991) is a Chinese professional snooker player, who made his debut on the Main Tour for the 2009âÂÂ10 season. He qualified by winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship. In November 2023 he won his first world ranking title by winning the International Championship.
Standing at 5 ft. 3 in. (160 cm) tall, he is nicknamed "Mighty Mouse". Zhang lives in Sheffield, England, during the snooker season and practises at the Victoria Snooker Academy.
The 2009âÂÂ10 season was Zhang's first professional season on the tour. His first match was a 2âÂÂ5 defeat to Craig Steadman in the first qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters. His first wins came over Ben Woollaston (5âÂÂ3) and Jin Long (5âÂÂ2) during qualifying for the Grand Prix. He was then eliminated by Welshman Dominic Dale 0âÂÂ5. He also reached the same stage in Welsh Open qualifying having beaten Matthew Couch 5âÂÂ2 and Mark Joyce 5âÂÂ4 before losing 2âÂÂ5 to Marcus Campbell.
Zhang comfortably beat Craig Steadman 10âÂÂ4 in his first match of World Championship qualifying, scoring his first century of the season in the penultimate frame. He then beat veteran John Parrott 10âÂÂ6 in the next round. He made a second century, a 113, as he won the last five frames to progress. In the penultimate qualifying round, he beat Andrew Higginson 10âÂÂ8 in a topsy turvy match. Zhang led 7âÂÂ3 scoring a 114 in the process before Higginson went ahead 8âÂÂ7. Zhang took the last three to go through to the final qualifying round. Ricky Walden, provisionally in the top 16 before the tournament, was Zhang's last obstacle to overcome. The first 16 frames were shared before a 134 break in frame 17 and a 103 break in frame 18 for Zhang resulted in a 10âÂÂ8 victory. This meant that he would be only the fourth Chinese player to play at The Crucible and the lowest ranked player (number 71) to qualify for tournament. He is also one of only a few players to make it to The Crucible in their debut season. This result denied Walden a top 16 place for the following season. Zhang was drawn against seven-time World Snooker champion Stephen Hendry in the first round of the event. Zhang was 0âÂÂ4 down in the match but rallied to trail only 4âÂÂ5 after the first session. Hendry increased his lead to 7âÂÂ5 before Zhang won four frames in a row to be on the cusp of a famous win. He wasted a chance to take the match in the next frame and went on to lose 9âÂÂ10. Zhang ended the season ranked world number 71.
Zhang began the 2010âÂÂ11 season well by defeating Jak Jones 5âÂÂ4, Paul Davies 5âÂÂ1 and Stuart Pettman 5âÂÂ3 to reach the final qualifying round of the Shanghai Masters. He faced Matthew Stevens and was beaten 2âÂÂ5. However, he could only win more match in qualifying for the remaining six ranking events, concluding with a 6âÂÂ10 loss to Andrew Pagett in the first round of World Championship qualifying. He finished the season ranked world number 84, well outside of the top 64 who retain their places on the snooker tour. He therefore entered Q School in an attempt to win back his place and was one match away from doing so in the first event, but lost 1âÂÂ4 to David Grace. He couldn't qualify from the remaining two events and did not have a place on tour next season.
After being relegated off the tour the previous year, Zhang was confined to entering minor-ranking Players Tour Championship during the 2011âÂÂ12 season. He played in all 12 of them, but had to wait until the final event, the FFB Snooker Open, for his first win which was a 4âÂÂ1 triumph over Jamie Burnett. Zhang was beaten by the same scoreline by Stephen Maguire in the next round to finish a lowly 115th on the Order of Merit. Zhang lost in the final of the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship 2âÂÂ5 to Hossein Vafaei, but as Vafaei had already qualified for the main snooker tour, Zhang received a place for the 2012âÂÂ13 and 2013âÂÂ14 seasons.
Zhang lost in the first round of qualifying for the opening three ranking events of the season. He played in all three of the new minor-ranking Asian Players Tour Championship events, reaching two quarter-finals where he lost to Michael White 3âÂÂ4 and Li Hang 2âÂÂ4 respectively. He finished 10th on the Asian Order of Merit, just outside the top eight who qualified for the Finals. His first win in a ranking event match this season was a 6âÂÂ5 success against Li Yan in International Championship qualifying, but he lost 3âÂÂ6 to Alfie Burden in the next round. The most matches he could win in qualifying was for the World Open by seeing off Michael Wild 5âÂÂ3, Luca Brecel 5âÂÂ4 and Rory McLeod 5âÂÂ2. He was edged out in the final qualifying round 4âÂÂ5 by Jamie Cope. Zhang's season came to an end when he lost 5âÂÂ10 to Michael White in the third round of World Championship qualifying. He finished the year ranked world number 77.
Zhang won three consecutive matches 5âÂÂ4 to qualify for the second ranking event of the season, the Australian Goldfields Open. He beat world number 20 Andrew Higginson 5âÂÂ1 in the first round to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time in his career, where he was defeated 5âÂÂ1 by world number two Mark Selby. Zhang also qualified for the Indian Open and beat Alan McManus 4âÂÂ1 in the first round, before losing 4âÂÂ3 to Michael White. His best result in the minor-ranking European Tour events came at the Gdynia Open in Poland where he was beaten in the quarter-finals 4âÂÂ2 by Fergal O'Brien. Zhang was relegated from the main tour at the end of the season as he was placed 77th in the world rankings, outside of the top 64 who remain. In his final game of the first 2014 Q School event he made a match-winning break of 54 in the deciding frame against Jamie Clarke to edge it 4âÂÂ3, having been 3âÂÂ0 up. The result earned Zhang a fresh two-year main tour card for the 2014âÂÂ15 and 2015âÂÂ16 seasons.
Zhang played a curtailed schedule of events in the first half of the 2014âÂÂ15 season. He met Ali Carter, who was playing in his first ranking match since having treatment for lung cancer, in the first round of the UK Championship and came back from 5âÂÂ3 down to beat him 6âÂÂ5. Zhang lost 6âÂÂ5 to Rory McLeod in the second round. He was whitewashed 4âÂÂ0 by Gary Wilson in the first round of the Welsh Open and narrowly lost 5âÂÂ4 to Peter Ebdon in the first round of the China Open. Zhang defeated Anthony Hamilton 10âÂÂ3, Mark Joyce 10âÂÂ9 and won the last three frames against Liang Wenbo to beat him 10âÂÂ9 and qualify for the World Championship. The world number 98 was the lowest ranked player to have qualified and in his second appearance in the event he fell 8âÂÂ1 down to Joe Perry in the opening session. Zhang won the first three frames of the next session which included a 132 break, but Perry went on to complete a 10âÂÂ4 win.
Zhang defeated Liang Wenbo 4âÂÂ3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Haining Open, but lost 4âÂÂ3 to Ding Junhui. He won his first professional event the General Cup Qualifying Event. He beat Cao Yupeng 5âÂÂ4 in the final. This was an invitation event with the winner taking the eighth and final place in the General Cup. He would go on to reach the semi-finals of the event, where he was beaten 6âÂÂ3 by Marco Fu. Zhang overcame Robert Milkins and Dechawat Poomjaeng both 5âÂÂ4 to qualify for the German Masters and he whitewashed Alfie Burden 5âÂÂ0 in the opening round to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time in his career. His run was ended with a 5âÂÂ1 defeat to Judd Trump. Zhang qualified for the World Championship for the second year in a row with wins over Bratislav Krustev, Mark Davis and Zhou Yuelong. He lost 10âÂÂ5 to Barry Hawkins in the opening round. Zhang was just outside the top 64 in the world rankings at 65, but earned a new two-year tour card by finishing joint fifth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Zhang comfortably beat Dominic Dale 5âÂÂ1 to play in the World Open where he defeated Peter Ebdon 5âÂÂ1 and Judd Trump 5âÂÂ2 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the third time, but he was thrashed 5âÂÂ0 by David Gilbert. He got to the same stage of the UK Championship by overcoming Tian Pengfei 6âÂÂ2, Anthony McGill 6âÂÂ3 and Mitchell Mann 6âÂÂ3. Zhang was unable to make it to his first quarter-final as he lost 6âÂÂ1 to Mark Selby. He qualified for the China Open, but was ousted 5âÂÂ1 by Mark Williams in the opening round.
Zhang remained outside the Top 64 for the entire season with a relatively poor run of form and was unable to replicate prior successes.
Owing to his previous poor season, he fell outside of the Top 64 and lost his Tour card. He did not enter the Q School event as a result of the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and was therefore relegated from the professional tour. However, Zhang performed well in the 2021 CBSA China Tour and was awarded a tour card for the 2021âÂÂ22 and 2022âÂÂ23 World Snooker Tour seasons as a result.
Zhang reached the final of the 2023 English Open, however came runner up with a 79 defeat to Judd Trump. One month later he reached the final of the 2023 International Championship. After beating O'Sullivan in the semi-final, he won his first world ranking title by beating Tom Ford 106. Anda hit a 147 maximum break in the match. At the 2024 World Championship, Zhang was defeated in the first round by Jak Jones 410.
In February 2026, Zhang reached the final of the World Grand Prix but suffered a 610 defeat to Zhao Xintong. It was the third time that two Chinese players had contested the final of a ranking event.
Zhang Anda was married in May 2019, but the couple postponed their honeymoon so that Zhang could play in the CBSA Chinese National Championship in Xi'an. Zhang won the tournament, beating Zhao Jianbo 5âÂÂ3 in the final.