In May 2002, Ding Junhui won the Billiards Asian Championship.
People cheered for the teenage billiards prodigy, the media spotlight focused on his life, games, and the public discussed his father's unique educational method of giving up his studies to focus on playing.
Suddenly, Ding Junhui's name spread all over China.
Maybe many people don't know that there is also a "female version of Ding Junhui" in the billiards world, who became a professional player at the age of 13 and ranked among the top 10 in the world at the age of 17, and was nicknamed "Cold Beauty".
In the home of this "cold beauty", the trophies and medals won are hung all over the wall, but it is such a talented player who is expected to show his talent in the billiards world by the public, but he was imprisoned because of a scandal, and since then he has gradually drifted away from billiards, this person is Zhou Mengmeng.
1. I was forced by my father to start learning billiards
Zhou Mengmeng on the field does not like to wait for opportunities, but enjoys a one-shot close, if you can finish in one shot, the opponent still has not to get up from the chair, it feels great!
Therefore, her billiards enlightenment teacher and her father Zhou Ruixin said: "On the field, she is fierce enough. ”
Under the ferocious ball road, there is a heart that loves beauty.
If you think about it seriously, the reason why she practices is not that she likes it, but that she just thinks it's fun. Her father Zhou Ruixin is also a popular figure in the billiards world, although his father has not won many awards, he has 15 stadiums in Shanghai in four years, which can be described as "wealthy".
Zhou Mengmeng is naturally a "rich second generation", she has lived in Qinhuangdao since she was a child, and lived a carefree life when she was a child, in a seaside town in the north, every day after school and her friends eat fried skewers on the street, play games, and sometimes go to the amusement park with your parents.
It was an ordinary girl's ordinary childhood, with the happiness that childhood should have, if it had been like this, she might go to junior high school, high school, college, until she was 11 years old when she held the cue in the billiards club run by Zhou Ruixin, and the gears of fate turned.
Since she started practicing at the age of 11, Zhou Mengmeng just wanted to kill time, and at the same time felt that playing billiards was very fun, and she realized that something was wrong when she practiced.
My father doesn't just want her to kill time, but wants her to play professionally, after all, he is a man of the year who has 15 billiards halls in Shanghai, and after his daughter played billiards, he discovered his talent and wanted her to go further on this road.
Practicing is boring, I have to practice for more than ten hours a day, I have to complete the homework assigned by my father every day, and I practice day after day, which is really boring.
In June 2001, Zhou Mengmeng participated in the qualification assessment of professional billiards players.
This is her first time competing in an open competition, and if she can do well, she will officially start her professional career, but there were a few hiccups before the competition.
Prior to this, she had been training snooker, and this open event was a nine-ball event, which was a certain difference between the two, and it was very stressful to temporarily transfer to nine-ball training.
Maybe it's because of her young age (13 years old), she didn't feel too much pressure, just like when she first practiced, she just thought that playing was just fun, even if the training was boring and boring, but when she stood on the stage, she was a little nervous at first, and gradually the nervousness turned into excitement.
With so many people on the field watching, and she is wearing beautiful clothes, she will feel that she is the most beautiful girl, in her words: "All the big truths are not more beautiful than beautiful, and all the pride is not more proud than freedom." ”
Beauty and freedom are her life credos.
Or there was too much less pressure, which made her play steadily in the competition, and she went all the way, but she did not win the championship, but the runner-up.
The competition that decided her life ended with the "runner-up", although she was not as eye-catching as Ding Junhui, but she can also be called a talented player, and since then she has become the youngest professional player in the billiards world.
"If it were now, she could play better."
It is undeniable that Zhou Mengmeng, who stood on the stage of professional players for the first time, did not perform perfectly, at least her parents thought so.
In that competition, Zhou's mother accompanied Zhou Mengmeng to participate.
The two of them felt at a loss under the spotlight, especially Zhou Mengmeng, there were always people taking pictures in front of her when she was competing, and she was disgusted with the flash, so she avoided the flash while playing, and the game was more or less affected. After her first race, she adapted.
It was also after this achievement that she became obsessed with billiards.
2. A path of life that should be taken
At the age of 14, Zhou Mengmeng dropped out of school.
Her teachers, friends, and parents all think that she should take this path - a professional billiards player, she is very talented, and she also has traits that ordinary billiards players do not have, such as "big heart" and strong adaptability.
Since she became obsessed with billiards, she has enjoyed the game and enjoyed the feeling of being in the limelight. Every time she plays, she puts on her favorite clothes, makes-up, and then faces her opponent in the best condition, and finally crushes her opponent with the most ferocious ball.
The same choice and the same genius are destined to be the same as Zhou Mengmeng and Ding Junhui, both of whom will leave a strong mark in the billiards world. From dropping out of school at the age of 14 to practicing wholeheartedly to winning the National Nine-Ball Professional Grand Prix at the age of 16, she has won many awards in three years.
There are failures, successes, and improvements, and she has become more and more mature, but what remains unchanged is her love for billiards games - she only loves the game, but she doesn't love "billiards".
In the billiards world, she has few friends and doesn't like to talk about billiards with others.
Usually I only train and compete, and the rest of the time I always like to tinker with other things. In her opinion, talking about billiards in her spare time is equivalent to "working overtime".
She often uses her free time to learn makeup, ear piercings, and tattoos, which are due to her personality and environment. Since leaving school and entering the adult society early, she has often met people who are much older than her, and there are not many common topics to talk about, and she always hopes to have a partner of the same age.
But the world of geniuses is lonely, and the only companion is billiards.
Because no one has treated her as a child for a long time, and no one will treat her as a child on the field, even she herself thinks so.
Her opponents, coaches, and spectators are all studying her playing style and preferences, and businessmen are still considering combining her with their billiards products. In the eyes of the audience, she is a talented player; In the eyes of opponents, she is a feared opponent; In the eyes of businessmen, she is a good spokesperson.
Of course, there are also quite a few people who give her clubs.
"Club" is the symbol of billiards players, and it is also eye-catching in major competitions, if she can use the cue given by others in the game, it is not only a feeling of glory, but also a kind of publicity.
Zhou Mengmeng has never been afraid of these things, and she doesn't care about them. She is proud of herself, she doesn't think there is an opponent to fear her, she only does what she has to do.
In this environment, Zhou Mengmeng must be lonely, and naturally she will inevitably have other dreams, in the past, she hoped to have a partner of the same age, and then she wanted to learn some other things, such as dancing and being an actor.
This is also in line with her personality, daring to show piercings, tattoos, smoky makeup in front of the media, and even her tattoo designs are designed by herself, such a person's dream is of course different, at least in her opinion, it is a little different, her second dream is to dance.
There are traces of this dream, Zhou Mengmeng, who is very individual, believes that "all the big truths are not beautiful", and dancing is similar to billiards games, which can also attract people's attention.
On the billiards court, she can make her opponent stand up without sitting on a chair by closing with one shot, causing the audience to exclaim, and the same is true for dancing.
In addition to dancing, she also wants to be an actress.
Talking about these dreams, Zhou Mengmeng couldn't help but blush a little and be a little shy, in her opinion, these dreams are really far away from her. Since picking up a pool cue at the age of 11, her life has become relatively monotonous, especially since she has participated in more and more competitions.
After arriving in Shanghai, there was no partner around me who could eat snacks on the street and go to school together, and other people's 16-year-old was gorgeous and colorful, and her 16-year-old could only be accompanied by clubs and tables.
Even if she enjoys the feeling of standing in the arena, she will still be tired and tired, she will miss the carefree time of her childhood, and she will want to go back to the northern town.
But the reality makes her only continue to do it, but fortunately, she does it better than ordinary people, all the efforts are rewarded, and the loneliness she endures is worthwhile.
3. Scandals bury career paths
Along the way, Zhou Mengmeng has become one of the best players in the billiards world.
Countless people have been defeated by her, and she is not proud of this, she just feels that this is a matter of course, and it is also in line with her domineering offensive style.
thought she would continue to gallop in the billiards world, but it came to an abrupt end due to a scandal.
On the evening of December 8, 2006, Zhou Mengmeng, who was participating in the Doha Asian Games, found the team leader and reported that his teammate Tian Pengfei had beaten and sexually harassed him.
Such a thing happened to the Chinese billiards team in the Asian Games, which immediately attracted the attention of the team leader, and immediately asked Tian Pengfei to ask about the specific experience, and asked Zhou Mengmeng if he needed medical treatment, Zhou Mengmeng said that he did not need to.
After the team leader learned what had happened, he learned that after the meal at the end of the game, Tian Pengfei did send a text message to Zhou Mengmeng to invite him to go out to talk, accompanied by his teammates.
The content of the conversation was not revealed, but the relationship between the two (former boyfriend and girlfriend) was generally related to feelings, and the two disagreed and quarreled halfway through, and Tian Pengfei made a move. Zhou Mengmeng, who has always had a personality, couldn't bear this breath, and fought with Tian Pengfei on the spot, but fortunately accompanied his teammates to stop it in time.
Judging from the whole thing, Tian Pengfei was at fault first, and the team leader asked Tian Pengfei to apologize to Zhou Mengmeng, after all, it was during the Asian Games, and the relevant punishment was decided after the game.
Zhou Mengmeng was not satisfied with this punishment result.
Unrelentingly, she grabbed Tian Pengfei and rushed to Tian Pengfei's room twice to beat and scold, without caring about the dissuasion of the people next to her. After repeated work by the team leader and teammates, they agreed to participate in the next day's competition.
I thought that this was the end of the matter, but the next day before the game ended, she found several reporters without notifying the team, claiming that she would withdraw from the game because Tian Pengfei sexually harassed and beat her.
At this time, Zhou Mengmeng, who was carried away by anger, couldn't care so much, and just wanted to let Tian Pengfei get better, which detonated the sensational "Asian Games sexual harassment case".
On January 11, 2007, the Zhou family took Tian Pengfei to court.
When it comes to the court against Bo, there is obviously no room for easing the dispute, and the Taiwan Association of China was still able to control the situation, but now it can only let the farce continue.
On January 26, the Taiwan Association cancelled the national team qualification ban of Tian Pengfei and Zhou Mengmeng for one year.
In the eyes of the Zhou family, Zhou Mengmeng, as a victim, should have the right to defend her rights, why was she banned for one year?
The unconvinced Zhou family once again held a press conference alone, throwing out a series of so-called blockbuster evidence, pointing at Xiaoqiu Center and Tian Pengfei.
Originally, it was just a personal dispute between Tian Pengfei and Zhou Mengmeng, but it rose to more serious corruption and system problems, and it caused a stir for a while.
However, the Zhou family has always taken a tough attitude, and the small ball center also responded positively to the so-called evidence provided by the Zhou family. By February 16, things had suddenly taken a 180-degree turn.
The originally tough Zhou family first accepted Tian Pengfei's apology, and then stopped suing the small ball center, and Zhou Mengmeng will also go to the United States to participate in the competition.
On March 3, Zhou Mengmeng issued a letter of apology to the Small Ball Center.
This farce, which lasted for nearly four months, finally ended with Tian Pengfei and Zhou Mengmeng apologizing, which made people a little surprised, but for Zhou Mengmeng, she learned more from this scandal.
Under the influence of the media bombardment, she realised for the first time that individual emotions cannot prevail over collective will, and that the Asian Games in Maha taught her that she must be mature and rational, and never do what she wants as before.
After going to the United States to participate in the competition and win the Hunter Classic, it was reported that he would retire from school. For billiards fans who follow her, there are some regrets.
As the "female version of Ding Junhui", the talent she showed in billiards is enough to support her to go further, and even hope to charge the world's No. 1, after all, she has been among the top ten in the world.
After retiring, Zhou Mengmeng chose to study administrative management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After leaving the competition, she had more time to get in touch with some new things, and at the same time had a new relationship - Liu Wei, the prince of the broken arm piano, the two received their certificates in September 2014, and at the same time she announced on Weibo that she was pregnant.
Less tension in the competitive arena and more comfortable life, this may be the life that Zhou Mengmeng yearns for, after all, when she was young, she had hoped to return to Qinhuangdao countless times and return to that northern town to live again.