The 2016 ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship is an amateur snooker tournament that is took place from 1 March to 8 March 2016 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the 17th edition of the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship and also doubles as a qualification event for the World Snooker Tour.
The tournament was won by Wang Yuchen of China who defeated Thailand’s Ratchayothin Yotharuck 6:5 in the final to win the championship. Wang was given a two-year card on the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons. He became the first Chinese winner of the Asian Under 21’s Snooker Championship since 2011.
Wang’s win didn’t come as a surprise as he was consistent through the tournament. Only Thailand’s Phuttakarn Kimsuk had a marginally better record from the round robin stage, although he was eliminated in the last 16. On the other hand, Yotharuck has an amazing track record, having played 2 seasons as a professional and won 27 more matches than Wang in their entire career. Unfortunately, Yotharuck failed to keep up his nation’s consecutive wins in the tournament since 2013.
This also wasn’t the first time the 2 went head-to-head. Wang and Yotharuck were also in the last 32 of the 2015 World Under-21 Men’s Championships held in Romania, where Wang defeated Yotharuck with a score of 5:3.