finished his debut season ranked world number 58, inside the top 64 who guarantee their places for the 2012–13 season. Yu was also the highest ranked out of all the new players on the tour. 2012/2013 season Yu had a disappointing 2012/2013 season as he could not qualify for any of the ranking events. He played in nine of the ten Players Tour Championship during the year, with his best finishes being three last 32 defeats to see him placed 63rd on the Order of Merit. Yu did have an upturn in form in World Championship Qualifying, by defeating Ian Burns 10–2 and Jamie Burnett 10–6. His break of 140 against Burnett was the joint highest of his career to date and the second highest of the qualifying tournament. Yu faced Mark King, just one match away from reaching the Crucible for the first time, and led 8–6 and 9–8, but lost the 18th frame on the colours and the deciding frame to be defeated 9–10. His ranking increased 11 places during the year to end it at world number 47. 2013/2014 season Yu lost in the first round of both the Indian Open and Shanghai Masters, before winning his first match in a ranking event at the UK Championship with a 6–3 victory over David Grace. His second round match against Matthew Stevens went into a deciding frame which lasted 40 minutes and hinged on a safety battle that Stevens won on the final pink. Yu played in all four of the Asian Tour events and lost 4–1 to Alan McManus in the quarter-finals of the Yixing Open, with his only frame coming courtesy of a 117 break. At the final event, the Dongguan Open, Yu advanced to the semi-finals where he was beaten 4–2 by Liang Wenbo. His results saw him finish ninth on the Asian Order of Merit to claim the final spot in the Players Tour Championship Finals. There, he exacted revenge over Wenbo by winning their first round clash 4–2. He recorded the best result of his career to date in the next round by restricting reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan to just two points from 3–2 down to win 4–3. In Yu's first ranking event quarter-final of his career, he was unable to recapture his prior form and was beaten 4–1 by Barry Hawkins. Yu continued his recent good play into the China Open