Thor Chuan Leong

Thor Chuan Leong
Paul Hunter Classic 2015
Born (1988-03-24) 24 March 1988 (age 36)
Sport country Malaysia
Professional2014–2020, 2023–present
Highest ranking74 (September 2024)
Current ranking 75 (as of 28 October 2024)
Best ranking finishLast 16 (x2)
Thor Chuan Leong
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese涂振龍
Simplified Chinese涂振龙
Hanyu PinyinTú Zhènlóng
Hokkien POJThô͘ Chín-liông
Tâi-lôThôo Tsín-liông

Thor Chuan Leong (simplified Chinese: 涂振龙; traditional Chinese: 涂振龍; pinyin: Tú Zhènlóng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Thô͘ Chín-liông;[1] born 24 March 1988), better known on the main tour as Rory Thor, is a Malaysian professional snooker player.

Career

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Thor, based in Penang, Malaysia represented his country at the 2006 & 2010 Asian Games and in the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and 2013 Southeast Asian Games, in the Southeast Asian Games he won bronze in the snooker singles[2] and doubles[3] and gold in the six red snooker singles.[4]

In 2014, Thor won the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship in May, beating Taiwan's Hung Chuang Ming 7–3 in the final.[5] This victory gained Thor a two-year card on the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2014–15 and 2015/2016 seasons.[6] However, despite the tour starting in May, Thor did not start playing on the tour until February 2015.[7] He played in the Six-red World Championship, but lost all five of his group matches.[8] In his first match in a ranking event qualifier he was beaten 1–4 by Dechawat Poomjaeng.[9] Although Thor lost all four of his matches this season he did push top 16 player Stuart Bingham to a deciding frame in the first round of the Welsh Open.[10]

Thor again failed to win a single match in ranking events during the 2015–16 season; in contrast, he performed successfully in the European Tour events, winning all of his first-round matches and reaching last 16 twice, at the Paul Hunter Classic and the Gdynia Open.[11] As a result, Thor was able to secure his place on the Main Tour for two further seasons by finishing tied 31st on the Order of Merit.[12]

A 5–2 victory over Jack Lisowski saw Thor qualify for the 2016 World Open and he reached the second round by beating Luca Brecel 5–3, before losing 1–5 to Neil Robertson. He also advanced to the last 32 of the Gibraltar Open with wins over Matthew Roberts and Gary Wilson, but lost 3–4 to Igor Figueiredo.[13]

At the 2024 British Open he secured one of the highest profile wins of his career, defeating three-time world champion Mark Williams 4–1 in the first round.[14][15]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2014/
15
2015/
16
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking[16][nb 1] [nb 2] 125 [nb 3] 84 [nb 4] 83 [nb 2] 84
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event WD RR
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held LQ
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 4R
English Open Not Held 1R 3R 2R 1R LQ LQ
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R 3R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ
Northern Ireland Open Not Held 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R
International Championship A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
UK Championship A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R
Scottish Open Not Held 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R LQ
German Masters A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Welsh Open 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R LQ
World Open Not Held 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ
World Grand Prix NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Players Championship DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Championship League A A A A A RR A
Former ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters A LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Event
Paul Hunter Classic MR 1R A 1R NR Not Held
Indian Open LQ NH LQ LQ 1R Not Held
China Open LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 5] Minor-Rank LQ LQ WD LQ Not Held
China Championship Not Held NR LQ LQ LQ Not Held
Gibraltar Open NH MR 3R 2R A 1R Not Held
European Masters Not Held LQ 1R 2R LQ LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship RR RR A A A A 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. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  3. ^ Players qualified through European Tour Order of Merit started the season without prize money ranking points
  4. ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
  5. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

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Pro-am finals: 4 (3 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2009 Southeast Asian Games Thailand Supoj Saenla 3–4
Winner 1. 2013 Southeast Asian Games (six-red) Laos Sithideth Sakbieng 5–4
Winner 2. 2015 Southeast Asian Games Myanmar Htet Ko 4–2
Winner 3. 2023 Southeast Asian Games (2) Thailand Sunny Akani 4–1

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2014 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Taiwan Hung Chuang Ming 7–3
Runner-up 1. 2023 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Iran Amir Sarkhosh 1–5

References

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  1. ^ "斯诺克亚锦赛落幕 马来西亚运动员时隔20年再夺冠". Sina News. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Snooker Single" (PDF). Southeast Asian Games. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Snooker Double" (PDF). Southeast Asian Games. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  4. ^ "6 Red Snooker Single" (PDF). Southeast Asian Games. 15 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  5. ^ "30th Asian Snooker Championships 2014". Cue Sports India. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  6. ^ "2014/15 List Of Tour Players". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  7. ^ "November Start For Malaysia's Thor?". Pro Snooker Blog. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. ^ "SangSom 6 Red World Championship 2014" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Thor Chuan Leong 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Stuart Bingham wants another 10 years at the top as he begins Welsh Open campaign". Echo. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Thor Chuan Leong 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  12. ^ "European Order of Merit 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Thor Chuan Leong 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Champion Williams beaten by world number 81 Thor". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Unibet British Open Day One Round Up". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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