The German Masters returned to Berlin, the Chinese legion attacked many people, and big names such as Trump and Robertson gathered again. Kuaishou "Star Club" broadcast the German Masters live from January 26 to 30, and the snooker feast before the Spring Festival, so stay tuned!
Tomorrow's german Masters main tournament has a total of 32 players, including 8 from China, which aptly illustrates the growing influence of the Chinese legion in the professional snooker arena. In the process of all this becoming a reality, we must not forget the name of one person - Ding Junhui.
Over the years, snooker has been moving towards new markets little by little. Last weekend, Wafi won in a single-time limited time tournament, becoming the first Iranian player to win a professional ranking tournament. He may be an important symbol of stimulating the development of snooker in the Middle East. However, there has never been a single overseas player whose influence has been comparable to ding Junhui's.
Ding Junhui's billiards story begins with an experience with his father going to a billiards club. It is said that when his father went to the toilet in the middle of the way, the young Ding Junhui picked up the club to complete the clearance.
Ding Junhui looked very talented in billiards, and his father immediately dropped him out of school to take him to fight for the best coaching resources in China. The Ding family sold their house to support Ding's rising billiards career.
The gamble paid off. At the age of 15, Ding Junhui won the Asian Under-21 Championship and the Asian Championship. His reward was snooker pro qualification, which meant he needed to move to England.
Ding Junhui came to England at the age of 16 and could hardly speak English, and in an unfamiliar cultural environment, the young Ding Junhui was very lonely. Snooker allowed Ding Junhui to find a point of focus, and at the end of his first season, his world ranking was not bad at 74th.
Prior to 2005, China had hosted several ranking tournaments, such as the Asian Open in Guangzhou in 1990 and the China Open from 1999 to 2002. But by then, the China Open had been three years apart.
In 2005, the China Open returned to the calendar, and Ding Junhui won the championship and became famous in the first battle. Today, the China Open is groundbreaking, helping to transform the snooker arena into what we see today, setting off a billiards boom in the world's most populous country and making Ding Junhui a national hero.
Ding Junhui's 5-2 win over Mark Davis in the outer card round and then a 5-0 sweep over Alberton were so astonishing that a journalist bluntly asked the 2002 World Championship winner: "Mr. Alberton, how did you win the World Championship?" ”
At the time, people had a premonition that a big event was brewing. The media and fans love local hope, especially a young man who represents something new and exciting. The press conference turned into a reporter scrambling for a group photo and asking for autographs. Even the chef wanted to catch a glimpse of the rising star.
Ding Junhui then defeated Bingham, defeated Fu Jiajun on his 18th birthday, and then kept a clean sheet in the semi-finals. In the final he faced the great Hendry, who happened to be the winner of the Asian Open 15 years ago.
Early in the game, according to the script envisioned by many, Hendry took the lead 4-1. But Ding Junhui chased 4 draws at the end of the first stage. Coming to the second stage, Ding Junhui was full of firepower, winning 9-5, and the audience entered the carnival. It was later reported that the match had a tv audience of 110 million.
A superstar was born. Ding Junhui became famous overnight, and even appeared in China to produce children's cartoons based on him. However, Ding Junhui is still down-to-earth. A few months after winning the China Open, Ding Junhui became the second youngest British Champion in history. After that there are more championships. In the 2013-14 season, Ding Junhui became only the second player to win five ranking championships in a single season.
The only regret is Crucible. In 2016, Ding Junhui fell out of the top 16 and needed to qualify for the World Championships. Putting down the pressure of the top seed in the qualifiers, Ding Junhui went all the way from the qualifiers to the final, becoming the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Championships, and finally lost to Selby 14-18.
Ding Junhui currently holds 14 ranking titles, as well as a masters title and twice won the World Cup for China. He also reached the number one in the world twice.
But these are only half the stories. The snooker movement also benefited greatly from Ding Junhui's success. After Ding Junhui's breakthrough, China is looking forward to hosting more events. Before the pandemic, up to five ranking tournaments were held in China in a single season, with a single championship prize of at least £150,000.
Ding Junhui's success has also inspired countless young people in China to embark on the snooker path, and a high-quality billiards training base like the International Billiards Academy has become a place to find tomorrow's stars. Some schools also include billiards in their curricula.
Young Chinese players began to storm the "old order", all of which arrived later than many expected, but now a wave is forming. In 2021, two young people in their 20s reached the top of the two most important events besides the World Championships – the Yan Bingtao Masters and Zhao Xintong's Championship.
In addition, Zhou Yuelong is within easy reach of the first 16. The World Snooker Tour currently has 25 Chinese professional players, in addition to many waiting to join the professional ranks.
What about Ding Junhui? Simply put, the boy of that year grew into a man. Ding Junhui is now married and has a daughter who is more than three years old. When the outbreak broke out in the UK and the snooker race was held behind closed doors, Ding Junhui had to be separated from his family, and the unbearable days lasted for ten months, until last year's World Championships.
The British players like to complain that it takes four hours to drive to Milton Keynes, but the situation that Ding Junhui faces is really unbearable. Therefore, it is not surprising that his achievements have been greatly affected.
Many people are looking forward to Ding Junhui's regrouping. Ding Junhui can be regarded as the darling of the players from many angles. Many professional players like to watch Ding Junhui play because of his classic way of scoring goals.
And Ding Junhui is not yet 35 years old, and there is still time for more success. Regardless of what his career goes next, he is destined to have a rare place in snooker history.
Some players measure their influence on snooker by the number of championships. Ding Junhui has also won many championships, but his legend is more profound than the championship itself. He has always been a hero, an inspiring force, and an example for countless Chinese snooker stars of hope.
In a word: without Ding Junhui's pioneering success, we would not have seen Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong, we would not have seen a large number of talented young players, and the snooker professional arena would be very different from now.
Ding Junhui, come on!