Wu Yize and Si Jiahui’s childhood coach lifts lid on rise to snooker’s elite

Wu Yize and Si Jiahui have risen to the top 16 in the world (Pictures: Getty)

Wu Yize and Si Jiahui are two of five Chinese players set to star at the Masters this month and an Englishman in Yushan will be following their progress closely.

Roger Leighton has coached snooker all over the world, from Brazil to Serbia, but most influentially in China where he is now based at the Yushan International Billiards Academy.

The 59-year-old, born in Preston but who grew up in Australia, was a professional in the 1990s before forging a globe-trotting coaching career which has seen him teach in 13 countries.

No nation has produced snooker talent like China over the last 20 years and Leighton has been a part of the development of the likes of Wu and Si, who are now in the world’s top 16.

Wu has surged into the game’s elite this season, with the 22-year-old beating John Higgins to win the International Championship and Leighton remembers a young lad with a lot of character arriving for coaching when he was based in Foshan.

‘He was a cheeky little kid at 11 years old. He was cheeky and funny,’ Leighton told Metro. ‘His father was always with him because his father had an antique business and his mother was running the business in the northwest of China.

‘He had talent, but he was loose and careless and he had a few technical faults because he’s natural. His back arm was all over the place. It still moves a bit now, but nothing like then. It was really bad then and it had to be controlled more.

Wu Yize downed John Higgins to win the International Championship in November (Picture: Getty Images)

‘You don’t try and physically stop anyone’s natural ability, but you just try and harness and control it, and you try to make it so they can get a bit more consistency out of it. Because without consistency, you’re wasting your time.

‘His highest break was 49. His father said that I’m his last resort. I was like, “wow, 11 year old, last resort,” but that’s how the fathers think. They think if you’re not showing good potential at a very, very young age, you should quit. And if you’re not professional by the age of 17-18, you’re going to be no good. That’s the mentality here.’

‘It’s a good mentality to have, but it’s crazy’

Wu did show very good potential, though, and made rapid improvements on the table, alongside Chang Bingyu, another young Chinese star who reached the final of the Scottish Open in December.

Chang Bingyu has been impressive on his return to tour (Picture: Getty Images)

‘After a couple of weeks, his high break increased to 70-odd and then he played Chang Bingu one day, he was losing 2-0 and he came back with a 50 and an 89 break and he’d missed a long ball with the extension,’ Leighton recalls.

‘I was like, “wow, that’s amazing, you’ve nearly doubled your highest break in two weeks,” but he wasn’t happy. He said to me: “It’s no good because Ronnie would have cleared up.”

‘I said, “yeah, but you’re not Ronnie yet, are you?” That was his mentality at 11 years old. He thought, “Ronnie wouldn’t miss. Why should I miss?” It’s a good mentality to have, but it’s crazy because, he came with a highest of 49!

Roger Leighton has been helping develop China’s young stars

‘It wasn’t long after that he made his first century. And then he played Cao Yupeng, who’s been the top 30 in the world, and he beat him 5-2. This was within about four or five months. Cao was really upset.

‘He was always laughing and giggling and he’s still a bit like that now. But he’s more serious because obviously now he’s at the top, at the business end. He’s not the complete player yet, but he’s getting there.’

‘He was like a bulldog’

Si Jiahui burst into the public snooker consciousness with an amazing run to the World Championship semi-finals in 2023 and has been to two ranking finals since then.

Si Jiahui had a stunning run to the last four in Sheffield in 2023 (Picture: Getty Images)

Leighton had faith in Si’s dedication and mindset growing up, but other players were catching the eye much more in terms of talent, including current world number 56 Fan Zhengyi.

‘Si Jiahui was better than Wu growing up. Si Jiahui was a bit older. Si jiahui wasn’t the best of my students,’ says Leighton. ‘Fan Zhengyi used to beat him all the time. Chang Bingyu was there. Chang was friends with all of them, he’s just a nice kid.

‘Everyone was beating Si Jiahui, but he was like a bulldog. He was solid. He was consistent and he was a worker. But he had a lot of pressure from his father.’

Fan Zhengyi won the European Masters in 2022 (Picture: Getty Images)

‘He’s not a professional anymore, he makes money on TikTok’

Standing out above all his contemporaries was Luo Honghao, a two-time ranking quarter-finalist who, at just 25 years old, has been off the professional tour for four years and may never return.

‘The best player at the time was Luo Honghao. He’s not a professional anymore, he makes money on TikTok in China teaching,’ says Leighton. ‘He got to the Crucible. He got to quarters of the English Open, and he lost in the quarters of the Riga Masters, so he did pretty good.

‘Then he got a girlfriend from London and he started losing a lot of games and he lost his confidence, but he was the best out of all of them.

Luo Honghao showed great promise but is no longer a pro (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Another one that was really good in training, probably the best in training was Chen Zifan. He turned professional, but he’s one of the guys that got caught for match-fixing.’

Chen and Chang were banned as part of the huge match-fixing scandal, with punishments handed out in June 2023.

Chang’s ban was one of the shortest – two years – after admitting to fixing one match, but only under threat from Liang Wenbo, a player who was banned for life, as was stated in the independent report.

The independent tribunal’s findings on Chang read: ‘We note that, at the time that his match fixing took place, Chang was aged 20. He was young and impressionable and under the influence of Liang, of whom he was scared. Chang has given evidence that he thought Liang would take action against him if he did not comply with Liang’s demands. We accept that, in all probability, Chang would not have offended absent that element of threat.’

Roger Leighton with one of his star students, Chang Bingyu

‘He was the only person from China that I’ve ever seen like that.’

From banned, to TikTok, to the top 16, it has been a mixed bag of progress for Leighton’s standout students, with Wu now seemingly leading the way.

‘Luo Honghao was the best. Chen Zifan was amazing in training, he’d hardly miss a ball some days, but he just couldn’t do it in matches, but Luo could,’ he said.

‘Si Jiahui was consistent and because he was dedicated and he had that bulldog mentality, he was fighting to win. And he was the only person from China that I’ve ever seen like that. He had like an English mentality and I like that. He didn’t have super ability, like Fan and Wu, but he had commitment, he had a great technique, and he was very consistent, which is what you need.

‘So I expected Wu Yize, Fan Zhengyi, Si Jiahui, Chang Bingyu and Luo Honghao to all be in the top 32 in the world. I didn’t say top 16 because that’s a big step. It’s a big call because the game is difficult. The game’s ruthless.

‘I’m now expecting Wu Yize to be the best out of my students. But when they were kids, Fan Zhengyi was beating most of them and Luo was beating all of them.’

Wu takes on defending champion Shaun Murphy at the Masters on Sunday afternoon and Si faces world number two Kyren Wilson on Tuesday.

Masters round one draw and schedule

Sunday January 11

Shaun Murphy vs Wu Yize

Mark Selby vs Xiao Guodong

Monday January 12

Mark Williams vs Mark Allen

Zhao Xintong vs Gary Wilson

Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn, replaced by Chris Wakelin (Picture: Getty Images)

Tuesday January 13

Kyren Wilson vs Si Jiahui

John Higgins vs Barry Hawkins

Wednesday January 14

Judd Trump vs Ding Junhui

Neil Robertson vs Chris Wakelin

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