On March 11, Ding Junhui, a 35-year-old Chinese professional snooker athlete, posted a Weibo post about winning the championship and receiving the award, with the text: Thank you everyone, time is slow, and I still haven't forgotten my dreams and efforts.
Ding Junhui, born on April 1, 1987 in Yixing City, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, is a Chinese men's billiards team player, the first Chinese inducted into the Snooker Hall of Fame, and is called the "Oriental Star" by the British media.
Ding Junhui's father Ding Wenjun loved billiards, influenced by his father, Ding Junhui began to contact billiards at the age of 8, and won the third place in Asia at the age of 13, and the title of "prodigy" has been around since then.
In order to ensure Ding Junhui's training, Ding's father even resisted various pressures from his family and society and asked the school where Ding Junhui was studying to allow Ding Junhui to only study Chinese and mathematics, study half a day, and practice ball for half a day. In addition, he gave up his original business and opened his own ball room. Even at the end of 1998, the family moved to Dongguan, Guangdong for the further development of Ding Junhui.
Ding Junhui practiced eight hours a day, during the most difficult period of the Ding family's life, his father took him to the Chinese national billiards team and persuaded Ding's mother to sell the house so that Ding Junhui could continue to play.
Ding Junhui, who became famous as a teenager, did not become invisible to everyone because of the aura of a prodigy, but continued to strive for strength, and as early as the age of 20, he established his position in the world table with 3 ranking championships. Over the next decade, he gradually became one of the world's top professional players.
Ding Junhui has also experienced the "darkest moments" of his career, not winning a title since winning the British Championship in 2019, and has also suffered frequent rounds in ranking matches this season until this season's British Championship. On November 21, 2022, Ding Junhui, who kept a clean sheet O'Sullivan and reached the final of the British Championship with a clean sheet along the way, lost seven consecutive games, and was defeated 10:7 by Mark Allen, who came later, and the dream of being crowned the 15th champion of the ranking tournament was completely shattered. But the temporary slump did not wear away his faith, his love for snooker never faded, and the chase for the world championship trophy still kept him motivated.
Ding Junhui wrote on social media, "I won't give up anyway."
Heading into 2023, he has been caught in a four-game losing streak starting at the World Grand Prix, and after being out of the first round of the Players' Championship, his direct access to this season's World Championship seeding spot has become slim.
After losing consecutive games, Ding Junhui stopped his decline in time with a valuable victory at the 6 Red Ball World Championships. He beat O'Sullivan 6-2 in the quarterfinals, then beat Bingham 6-2 in the quarterfinals and beat Forde 7-4 to reach the final for the second time this season. In the final, Ding Junhui controlled the table by feeling, completed 2 consecutive 70+ clearances, and took the first step to get the match point. Facing Tachaia's strong counterattack, Ding Junhui missed two consecutive match points, but in the end, Tachaiya took the lead under pressure, leaving half a chance after losing the black ball in the 14th game, and Ding Junhui finally completed the overscore and defeated Tachaiya 8-6 to win the championship. Although it was only an invitational event, Ding Junhui did not give up his yearning for the championship as originally written.
It is also the 23rd title of Ding Junhui's career, and he currently has 14 ranking titles and nine invitational titles, with the most of three British Championship titles.
After the game, Ding Junhui has written his expectations on his social media, "Thank you everyone, take your time, and still haven't forgotten your dreams and efforts."
For snooker athletes with a long career, the ups and downs of state, the ups and downs of achievements are the norm, from a talented teenager to a Chinese snooker leader, Ding Junhui's career path is not smooth, but his focus and love have always been there, hard work and dreams have always been maintained, this victory has greatly increased his confidence, but also ushered in a new beginning, hoping to continue the current state and prepare for the next competition.
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