Name: Marco Fu

DOB: January 8, 1978

Nationality: Hong Kong

Turned Pro: 1998

Highest Ranking: #8 (2009/10)

Current Ranking: #8

Highest Break: 147 (2000 Scottish Masters)

Career Highlights: 2007 Grand Prix Champion, 2006 World Semi-Finalist, Premier League Champion 2003, 2008 UK Finalist, 1998 Grand Prix Finalist, 1999 WPBSA Newcomer of the Year & WSA Young Player of the Year

In short

One of the finest overseas players to have played the game, in 2007 Marco finally delivered on his early promise by taking the first ranking event title of his career. This and his several other good performances over the course of the season moved him back into the top 16 for 2008/9 and it will be now be interesting to see whether he can challenge for trophies on a regular basis over the coming years.

An excellent match-player, Fu is a player with no obvious weaknesses and one who will always take some beating. Also possessing excellent mental strength, it is perhaps surprising that it has taken this long for him to really start to perform to his best on a consistent basis but he is still young enough to make up for lost time over the next few years.

Early career

A highly promising amateur, Fu underlined his potential by winning the Asian Amateur, World Amateur and World U-21 Championships in 1997. A year later he had turned professional and impressed from the very beginning, reaching the 11th qualifying round of the 1998 World Championship and ending it with a ranking of 377.

His impact on his first full season was to be just as remarkable. In the very first tournament he managed to negotiate the qualifying rounds before taking care of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Peter Ebdon to reach the final of the 1998 Grand Prix. Never done before by someone ranked so low, this was a phenomenal achievement and despite losing 9-2 to Stephen Lee in the final, a star looked to be well and truly born.

His performances over the rest of the season were consistently strong and he ended the season up in 35th position as well as being voted the 1999 WSA Young Player of the year.

This form continued into 1999/2000 and following another two semi-final spots and a second appearance of the Crucible, he was into the top 16 after just two seasons, a brilliant effort.

Dip in form

Unfortunately his rapid progress was not to continue over the next few years as his performance levels and confidence began to fall. Despite making his first career 147 against Ken Doherty in the Regal Scottish Masters and a semi-final spot in the Premier League, he was to fall back out of the top 16 positions where he was to remain for the next three years.

Victory in the Matchroom Premier League in 2003 aside, the huge potential that had seen Fu make such an impact of the tour appeared to have fizzled out somewhat as he continued to struggle in the ranking events.

Resurgence

The big turnaround however came at the 2006 World Championships where following a period of coaching from former champion Terry Griffiths, Fu made a shock semi-final appearance. Having beaten the in-form Ken Doherty in his quarter-final, he was to meet 2002 champion Peter Ebdon in what was to be a thrilling encounter. With Ebdon leading 15-9, Fu fought back superbly to level at 16-16, only to be denied by a nerveless clearance from Ebdon in the decider. The tournament was at least a huge step in the right direction for Fu though as he now appeared to have his confidence back at last.

Grand Prix glory

A year later it was all to come together in brilliant style as he won his first ranking event title at the 2007 Royal London Watches Grand Prix. Going into the final as the underdog against Ronnie O’Sullivan, he held his nerve brilliantly throughout and never showed any signs of the pressure that he must have felt towards the end. Performing well for the rest of the season he ended it back in the top 16 and this time looked well-equipped to stay there for the foreseeable future.

2008/9

The following season did not start off in particularly impressive style, his best result from the first four events coming at the Shanghai Masters where he made the quarter-finals.

In the UK Championship though he defeated Barry Hawkins, Matthew Stevens, Joe Perry and Ali Carter to go all the way to the final before coming unstuck against Shaun Murphy in the early hours of Monday morning. While disappointing, the result put him up into the top six of the provisional rankings for the first time also saw him become the 24th player to pass the £1m mark in career prize money, no mean feat.

Since then he has reached another quarter-final in the Welsh Open, again defeating O’Sullivan along the way, but early exits in the Masters and the China Open perhaps showed that he is still not as consistent as he might be. His season ended on a bit of a low note with a heavy 13-3 defeat to eventual finalist Shaun Murphy, but nevertheless he still managed to move up to a career high ranking of number eight for the 2009/10 season.

Tournament Victories:

Ranking Event wins (1)

Non-Ranking Event wins (1)

Profile supplied by Matt Huart (http://prosnookerblog.com/)