5. Zhou Yushan 1p
Born 1997 in Guiyang, Guizhou Province. Zhou Yushan became a local celebrity when she played an exhibition game against Nie Weiping 9p during the final stage of the very first Bailing Cup (the pro international version) in 2012. She got the nod by finish 2nd overall in the Post Service Cup held in Guiyang that year. As a 14 year old she said during an interview that her goal was to play in the pro league one day. It would take 6 more years to get the status needed to fulfill that goal. Zhou has been a force to be reckoned with in local amateur circles, winning two amateur Mingren titles of Guizhou Province. She earned 6D by winning Group A of 2017 Shangri-La Cup Women's National Amateur Championship （this is one of the rare female only amateur championships. Wu Yiming finished 7th in the same group).
Born 2000 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Gao Ruohuan was in a Go dojo as a 4 year old not to learn Go but to have a place to play after kindergarten so his dad, owner of the dojo, could keep a close eye on her. Her dad actually wanted her to play tennis but he gave up quickly realizing his daughter did not have talent for that sport. As it turned out the game she learned to play best at the Go dojo was, well, Go. Her dad was her only teacher until she reached 5D. And by now we all know the drill: it was time to go to Beijing or Hangzhou. The Gao family did both. In 2013 Ruohuan and her mother went to Beijing and spent three years there. In 2016 she got admitted to Hangzhou Go School. In 2017 Shanglu Cup Hangzhou International City Invitational she won team championship and individual 2nd place. In 2018 she won women's group of Luyoudao Cup National Amateur Championship. This is her 5th PQT.
Born 1995 in Luoyang, Henan Province. As one of the "older" new pros, Jin Shan 1p is a sophomore at Shanghai Foreign Language University. She is an exception among these new pros in that she has been top of her class ever since elementary school, and in a sense Go is secondary to her academic study. She started taking go lessons at 6, and loved the game. But even as a kid she always finished her homework before taking her 7pm Go lessons. In 2007 she won Henan Province Women's Go Championship. To improve her skill she went to Beijing and Hangzhou like other new pros. But she did not let go of her academic study. In 2014 she won the women's group of both Qingdao Press Cup and Hua'an Cup. Like Sha Xinyu she is also active in collegiate competitions, winning 2nd place of Shanghai Collegiate Games in 2016 and championship in 2017. She also went undefeated in the women's group of 2017 World Collegiate Go Championship held in Bangkok, Thailand.
). After the HTT he chose to remain an amateur. In an interview he gave 5 reasons why he made that choice: 1. He does not think he can get much higher rank with his age;
