When it comes to snooker, most fans will think of "Hurricane" Alex Higgins, "Billiards Emperor" Stephen Hendry, "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan and others, and mention domestic snooker believes that Ding Junhui must be the first name that most people came up with.
There is no doubt that for the Chinese sport of snooker, Ding Junhui is undoubtedly the pioneer and leader, ranking ninth in the world overall ranking with 14 professional rankings, which is also one of the best players among non-British players.
However, with the increase of age and the shift of career focus, Ding Junhui's performance in recent seasons can be described as very bad, the world ranking has officially fallen out of the top 16, and the event is also frequently encountered with a round of travel. However, what makes fans more pleased is that in the case of Ding Junhui's collapse, more and more young players in China have stepped forward.
This season, a total of 25 Chinese snooker players have entered the professional arena, including Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Tian Pengfei and other veterans, but new generation young players such as Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhou Yuelong and Wu Yize have become the backbone of this Chinese team.
And Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong, two new era players, have carried the banner of domestic snooker in the case of a serious decline in Ding Junhui's state, and have shined in the "three major competitions" known as the highest gold content.
Born in 2000, Yan Bingtao defeated john Higgins, one of the best players in history, in the final of last season's Masters to win his first three-major championship trophy in his career, becoming the first post-00s player in Masters history to win the championship.
The 24-year-old Zhao Xintong defeated Luka Brechel to win the first ranking championship of his career in the British Championship, another event of the three major competitions, 300 days later, and broke many records in one fell swoop.
In the case that Ding Junhui has fallen out of the world's top sixteen, Zhao Xintong used the British Championship championship to make up for the top 16 place of a domestic player, which is currently ranked ninth in the world, and Yan Bingtao is also temporarily ranked fifteenth in the world.
Witnessing the outstanding performance of the two new generation of Chinese young players, more and more fans also call them the future leaders of China's snooker, and they have bluntly said that they have taken over the domestic snooker banner from Ding Junhui, but in the hearts of the two young players, they believe that there is still a huge gap between Ding Junhui's achievements.
Zhao Xintong said in connection with the domestic media after winning the British Championship: Ding Junhui has always been my predecessor, since my debut has been learning from him, without Ding Junhui's contribution to the domestic snooker, I think I would not have engaged in this sport.
And Yan Bingtao said that the current world ranking does not represent that he has surpassed Ding Junhui, he and Zhao Xintong still have a long way to go in the future, Yan Bingtao is even more public when Ding Junhui encountered a round of travel and was insulted by fans: Ding Junhui will always be the best player in China's snooker.
As a fan, it is certainly happy to see the two Young Chinese players achieve more and more honors, but as Yan Bingtao said, there is still a long way to go for their new generation of players, and we will wait and see what surprises they will bring to everyone next.