Editing Marco Fu (section)

===Early career===
Marco Fu was born on 8&nbsp;January 1978 in [[British Hong Kong]].<ref name="euro_Marc">{{Cite web |title=Marco Fu – Player Profile – Snooker |work=Eurosport |access-date=29 November 2020 |url=https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/marco-fu_prs32340/person.shtml |quote=8 January 1978 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129193550/https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/marco-fu_prs32340/person.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> He began playing [[snooker]] at age nine, but did not do so regularly until he was 15.<ref name="squatqa" /> Fu migrated to [[Vancouver]], British Columbia, Canada with his parents at age 12. After his high school graduation at age 18, Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council Co. Ltd. President [[Joseph Lo]] invited him to return to Hong Kong to begin his career as a professional snooker player.<ref name="squatqa">{{cite web |url=http://batgwa.com/squat/article.php?articleId=316 |title=Marco Fu Q&A |date=21 January 2008 |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-date=1 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601223342/http://batgwa.com/squat/article.php?articleId=316 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Before turning professional, Fu won the [[IBSF World Snooker Championship]] and the [[IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship]], both in 1997.<ref name="squatqa" />

After winning these tournaments, Fu turned professional for the [[1998–99 snooker season]].<ref name="squatqa" /> In his first season as a professional, he was ranked 377th in the world.<ref name="sl2" /> He reached the final of the [[1998 Grand Prix (snooker)|Grand Prix]], beating [[Ronnie O'Sullivan]] 5–2 and then [[Peter Ebdon]] 5–3.<ref name="sl2" /> [[Stephen Lee (snooker player)|Stephen Lee]] defeated him 2–9 in the final. During the rest of the 1998–99 season, Fu qualified for four more ranking tournaments,<ref name="r9899" /> including the [[1999 World Snooker Championship]], winning four qualifying matches before losing to [[James Wattana]] 8–10 in the first round of the main draw.<ref name="r9899">{{Cite web |url=http://www.snooker.org/cgi-bin/player.cgi?season=9899&player=Marco+Fu |title=WWW Snooker: Marco Fu (Hong Kong) – Stats from the 1998/99 ranking tournaments |access-date=8 September 2008 |publisher=WWW Snooker }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was voted [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]] (WPBSA) Newcomer of the Year and WSA Young Player of the Year in 1999.<ref name="World Snooker Profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/PlayersAlphabeticalArticle/0,,13165~2233733,00.html |title=Official player profile of Marco Fu |work=worldsnooker.com |at="Players Alphabetical" section |publisher=[[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]] |access-date=20 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119043345/http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/PlayersAlphabeticalArticle/0,,13165~2233733,00.html |archive-date=19 January 2011 }}</ref><ref name="sl2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/season01-02/profiles/mfu/ |title=Snooker Player Profiles: Marco Fu |access-date=21 April 2007 |work=Sporting Life |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605015227/http://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/season01-02/profiles/mfu/ |archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref>