 The title earned him a place on the 2008–09 snooker tour.His first tournament as a professional was the 2008 Jiangsu Classic, where he finished last in his group, although he managed to beat the 2008 World Championship runner-up Ali Carter 2–0.In qualifying for the first ranking event of the year, the Northern Ireland Trophy, Li beat Robert Stephen 5–1 and David Morris 5–4 to reach the last qualifying round, where he was defeated 2–5 by Andrew Higginson.