| Birth date | 28 January 1994 (age 32) |
|---|---|
| Birth place | Leeds, England |
| Professional | 2015–2019, 2022–present |
| High ranking | 57 (December 2024) |
| Best finish | Quarter-final (2023 Scottish Open) |
Sanderson Lam (Chinese: 林杉峰) (born 28 January 1994) is an English professional snooker player.
Early life
Lam was born to Chinese parents in Leeds, England.[1] His parents moved to England in the 1980s.[1]
Career
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 2011 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 semi-finals 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.[2]
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.[3] 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, where 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.[4][5] A 4–2 victory over Joe Swail in the final round of the second event earned him a new two-year tour card.[6]
Personal life
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."[1] Although his parents speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese, he mainly speaks English.[1]
Performance and rankings timeline
| Tournament | 2013/ 14 | 2014/ 15 | 2015/ 16 | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | 2018/ 19 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | 2025/ 26 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 77 | [nb 4] | 92 | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 75 | 62 | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | RR | RR | 2R | RR | RR | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 3R | 4R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 1R | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | LQ | 2R | LQ | 1R | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Not Held | 3R | 1R | 3R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | A | A | 2R | LQ | 1R | LQ | Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | |||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Non-Ranking Event | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 3R | ||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | QF | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | NH | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 5] | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | LQ | 2R | 1R | 3R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||
| World Open | WR | Not Held | A | LQ | LQ | Not Held | 1R | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | 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 | Non-Ranking Event | |||||||||||||||||||
| Riga Masters[nb 6] | NH | Minor-Ranking | 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 | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | Not Held | MR | 4R | 1R | 1R | 3R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WST Classic | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 1R | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| 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. | |||
- ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
- ^ He was an amateur
- ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
- ^ Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points
- ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
- ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
Career finals
Team finals: 1 (1 title)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team/partner | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2017 | World Women's Snooker Mixed Doubles Championship | Katrina Wan | Dylan Mitchell Rebecca Kenna | 3–1[7] |
References
- ^ "White Rose rookie is happy to let his cue do the talking". 2015.
- ^ "EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ "Sanderson Lam 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ "Sanderson Lam 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ "Rankings 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ "Lam Secures Immediate Tour Return". World Snooker. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ "Rebecca Kenna climbs to sixth in world rankings after busy LITEtask Women's Festival of Snooker in Leeds". Keighley News. 19 April 2017. Archived 16 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 April 2021.