Ding Junhui

Ding Junhui: Bring Future for World Snooker
Unlike most other Chinese sportsmen, Ding Junhui, the most successful Chinese snooker player, achieved great success not backed by any national sports agencies but his own family's investment and his own efforts.
Since 2005, at age of 18, when he won a historic title at the China Open by trumping cue legend Stephen Hendry of Scotland (苏格兰)9-5 in Beijing, the young man was gradually considered one of the most talented snooker players in the world and was dubbed ("1.授与…以称号，把…叫做；给…起浑名[绰号]叫…。

)wonder kid" by Chinese fans.
The title made Ding the first-ever Chinese player to win a Main Tour title and the second youngest title holder in snooker history, just nine days older than Ronnie O'Sullivan was when he won the 1993 UK Championship.
In December 2005, he beat four top players to win the title of UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York, becoming the first player from outside Britain or Ireland to win the UK title.
In August 2006, he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan at the final of the Northern Ireland Trophy, to bring his major tournament tally up to three, only the third person to do so before his 20th birthday.
The three world-class trophies directly pushed Ding into the public spotlight with nationwide media coverage. He then reclaimed( 1.要求归还…，收回)the UK championship in 2009, beating John Higgins in the final and winning the Welsh Open in 2012, defeating then-world No 1 Mark Selby in the final, adding two heavyweight trophies.
A national inspiration
Ding's achievement ignited a huge interest in the sport in China, with a growing number of fans. But most of them don't play the time-consuming and skill-intensive snooker but choose the much easier American pocket billiard, or pool.
Statistics released by China Billiards Association shows that China's billiards and pool population jumped from1 million in 1999to25 million in 2005, when Ding won his two titles. By 2011, the number had further grown to more than 60 million, accounting for half of the world billiards population. Today, one of every 20 people in China is a fan of billiards, pool or snooker.
Moreover, Ding's success has inspired more people to become professional players, with more than 1 million receiving professional training every day.
Peers grows
On cue, rising Liang lifts China's snooker
For years, Ding Junhui had to fly the China flag alone on the world snooker stage.
But Ding does not need to battle alone anymore, as Liang Wenbo marked his arrival as a world-class player with his runner-up finish at the Shanghai Masters in 2009. Liang also advanced to the quarterfinal of the UK championship that year.
A 26-episode cartoon series Dragon Ball No.1, based on Ding's growth from a shy boy to a snooker star, was broadcast on TV in 2010, which was the first of its kind in China with a sports star as its hero.
China is the future
China's Ding Junhui (C) attends the awarding ceremony of 2010 World
Snooker China Open after the final against Mark Williams of Wales in
Beijing, capital of China, April 4, 2010. [Xinhua]
Meanwhile, the booming market in China is reviving the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, which foresees a promising future in China. Even the former chairman of the group once publicly discussed the possibility of moving the World Snooker Championship from Crucible Theatre in England, which has been the host site since 1977, to China.
Meanwhile, snooker agents and veteran players believe that the future of snooker belongs to China, as fans splash out to watch the games. Besides, China's companies' share of sponsorship is getting increasingly bigger.
In the 2012-13 seasons, there will be five ranking snooker tournaments held in China, even more than the UK, with only three.
Ding's emergence has changed the demographic of world snooker both on the table and in the market.。