Sanderson Lam (Chinese: 林杉峰) (born 28 January 1994) is an English professional snooker player.

Sanderson Lam
Paul Hunter Classic 2016
Born (1994-01-28) 28 January 1994 (age 30)
Leeds, Yorkshire
Sport country England
NicknameThe Panda[1]
Professional2015–2019, 2022–present
Highest ranking60 (July 2024)
Current ranking 62 (as of 11 November 2024)
Best ranking finishQuarter-finals (2023 Scottish Open)

Early life

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Lam was born to Chinese parents in Leeds, England.[2] His parents moved to England in the 1980s.[2]

Career

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In 2011 Lam started to take part in the Players Tour Championship, a tournament series for professionals and amateurs. In the first three tournaments in England, he lost the first match in each case, but at the Paul Hunter Classic in Fürth he secured two victories in the qualifying rounds and played Mark Williams where he was defeated 4–0. Over the next year, he participated in a further four tournaments. Following the end of the season he entered Q School where he reached the semifinals of his group before losing to Elliot Slessor who went on to secure qualification for the main tour In the 2014–15 season he was able to improve in the PTC tournaments and succeeded in qualifying for the EBSA Qualifying Tour play-offs. There he was able to prevail among the 16 participants, and win one of the two main tour places after defeating TJ Dowling 4–2 in the final round. As a result, Lam was given a two-year card on the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons.[3] Lam defeated David Morris 6–3 to qualify for the 2015 International Championship. On his venue stage ranking event debut he thrashed Michael Wild 6–0, but then failed to pick up a frame himself in the second round against Zhou Yuelong. Lam lost all eight matches he played after this.[4] Wins over Wang Yuchen and Alan McManus with the loss of a single frame helped Lam progress to the third round of the Northern Ireland Open, where he was ousted 4–1 by Hossein Vafaei. At the Gibraltar Open he eliminated Wang 4–3, Noppon Saengkham and Peter Ebdon both 4–1 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time and he would be on the wrong end of a 4–1 scoreline against Judd Trump. Lam squeezed past Mark King 5–4 at the China Open, before losing 5–2 to Kyren Wilson in the second round and he needed to have a successful Q School campaign in order to avoid being relegated from the tour.[5][6] A 4–2 victory over Joe Swail in the final round of the second event earned him a new two-year tour card.[7]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2021/
22
2022/
23
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking[8][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 77 [nb 4] 92 [nb 2] [nb 4] 75 62
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR RR 2R RR
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held LQ
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 3R
English Open Not Held 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ 2R LQ
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R LQ 2R LQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R
Northern Ireland Open Not Held 3R 1R 3R LQ LQ LQ LQ
International Championship A A 2R LQ 1R LQ Not Held 1R 1R
UK Championship 1R A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R 3R
Scottish Open Not Held 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ QF LQ
German Masters LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Welsh Open 1R A 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ 2R 1R
World Open WR Not Held A LQ LQ Not Held 1R
World Grand Prix NH NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Players Championship[nb 5] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic LQ A Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters LQ A LQ LQ 1R NR Not Held Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 6] NH Minor-Rank LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 2R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held
China Championship Not Held NR LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Indian Open LQ LQ NH LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
China Open LQ A LQ 2R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Not Held
Gibraltar Open Not Held MR 4R 1R 1R 3R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
European Masters Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship A A A A A A NH LQ 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.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c He was an amateur
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ a b Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  6. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Personal life

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While Lam speaks English as his first language, he can also speak Chinese languages, though not fluently. He remarked "I was born over here but as soon as they see I am Chinese, they think I can speak fluently. It’s a shock." "I can speak Chinese, but not fluently. I am still trying to learn a lot. I have got quite a strong Leeds accent, a deep voice, so when I talk in China, they can’t understand the accent."[2] Although his parents speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese, he mainly speaks English.[2]

Career finals

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Team finals: 1 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Team/partner Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2017 World Mixed Doubles Championship [clarification needed]   Katrina Wan   Dylan Mitchell
  Rebecca Kenna
3–1[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Sanderson Lam". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "White Rose rookie is happy to let his cue do the talking". 2015.
  3. ^ "EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Sanderson Lam 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Sanderson Lam 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Lam Secures Immediate Tour Return". World Snooker. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Rebecca Kenna climbs to sixth in world rankings after busy LITEtask Women's Festival of Snooker in Leeds". Keighley News. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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