Ding Junhui is set to stir up another snooker frenzy when he
launches his fight for the China Open title in Beijing on his 20th
birthday.
But defending champion Mark Williams and a host of top players
including Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan will not be making
the trip just to wish him happy returns.
The world's top 16 players will all be present at the tournament
which runs from March 26 to April 1, but for the growing army of
local fans Ding will be the center of attention.
"Winning a pro tour title on my home court on my birthday would
be very exciting. I can't imagine a better birthday present," Ding
told Chinese Central Television (CCTV). "But I just want to focus
on my game and not think too far ahead. The China Open is where I
started, it's always a very special tournament for me."
The sport is booming in China on the back of wonderkid Ding's
performances. He announced his arrival at snooker's top table by
defeating Hendry in the 2005 China Open final in front of a
television audience of 110 million.
The win elevated Ding to the status of national hero, placing
him alongside NBA center Yao Ming and record-holding hurdler Liu
Xiang in the popularity stakes and giving the sport an invaluable
lift in China's potentially-mega market.
The 2007 season saw Ding outclass Hendry again en route to the
final of the Masters in January, a week after he replaced opponent
O'Sullivan as the youngest player to register a televised maximum
147 break.
He became the first Asian player to reach the final of the
Masters, the most prestigious event in the sport, but looked on in
tears as "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan demolished him 10-3 in a
snooker masterclass.
Chinese fans were so captivated by Ding's emotional exit that
national broadcaster CCTV was forced to reschedule programming to
provide live coverage of the final three frames.
Ding's home matches in 2006 were the most-watched sports events
on CCTV last year.
"I cannot wait to watch him in Beijing," said Wang Meng, a
21-year-old snooker fan from the capital. "He has made snooker one
of the most popular sports amongst Chinese youngsters. It's
awesome."
Ding will be joined by eight Chinese wildcards in the
tournament, which takes place at Beijing University Students
Stadium.
Mike Ganley, World Snooker Tournament Director, acknowledged
that China was the engine powering the sport's future.
"I am sure the Chinese tournament has helped to drive the
dramatic growth in the popularity of snooker worldwide," he said at
a press conference yesterday. "China is such a key area for snooker
and we are delighted to have capitalized on the great success of
the last two years' tournaments in Beijing.
"I am fully confident that this year's tournament will be even
better than the previous two."
World Snooker has already set up a Chinese language website and,
based on the success of the China Open, has signed an eight-year
contract with China's Multiple Administrative Centre of the State
General Sports Administration, the longest contract the snooker
governing body has ever inked.
"The snooker environment is improving year by year," said Liu
Rongyao, snooker director of the Centre. "Fans and organizers
learned a lot from the past two events, and the standard of the
tournament is getting higher.
"We want to build the China Open into the most successful
tournament in Beijing. Ding's latest success will take the sport to
another level, so I'm confident the upcoming China Open will once
again become a hot topic for the fans."
(China Daily March 22, 2007)