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Champion Ding predicts Chinese snooker revolution
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-04 14:59
Teenager Ding Junhui believes his stunning defeat of former world champion
Stephen Hendry in the final of the China Open will be the spark to ignite a
Chinese revolution in the sport.
Ding Junhui lines up a shot. The teenage
Chinese snooker champion believes his stunning defeat of former world
champion Stephen Hendry in the final of the China Open will be the spark
to ignite a Chinese revolution in the sport.
[AFP] | Ding, who celebrated his 18th birthday
last week, came from behind to beat Hendry 9-5 and become the first Asian winner
of a ranking tournament for 10 years here on Sunday.
"Its a great victory for me but there will be many more Chinese players in
the future who will perform well in the major tournaments," said Ding.
"Players such as Liang Wen Bo and Liu Song are at a similar level and they
will learn much from playing in the UK, as I have done."
The Asian player to take a ranking tournament was James Wattana who won his
first Thailand Open title in 1994.
Ding is also the second youngest ever winner of a ranking title, just nine
days older than Ronnie O'Sullivan was when he won the 1993 UK Championship.
Furthermore, he is also the first player to win a ranking event after entering
as a wild card.
"I didnt feel any pressure because I knew that I would learn a lot from
Stephen Hendry as I have never played him before," said Ding.
"I tried to treat it like a practice match. I think there was more pressure
on Stephen. I had a bit of luck during the first session but towards the end I
played very well.
"Winning this tournament has given me a lot of confidence and that will
really help me next season. This season I have lost too many matches which I
should have won. My main target for next season will be to get into the top 32.
"My father (Ding Wenjun) is worried that winning this tournament will affect
my future, but I will keep my feet on the ground."
Hendry predicted a great future for Ding in the sport.
"There is no doubt that Ding is a superb talent and to win this event in
front of his fans is an amazing achievement," said the former world champion.
"It will be very interesting to see how he gets on next season. He will still
have to come through the qualifiers, but if he can get into the top 16 he could
be winning tournaments regularly."
Ding did it the hard way on Sunday after Hendry threatened to run away with
the final at the Haidian Stadium when he surged into an early 4-1 lead.
Watched by a 1,500-strong partisan crowd and millions of television viewers,
Ding hit back in style.
He won eight of the last nine frames to triumph 9-5 and take the golden
trophy.
Ding, the youngest ever world under-21 champion at the age of 15 in 2003, had
never previously been beyond the last 16 of a ranking tournament, but he has
beaten many of snooker's leading stars and reached the quarter-finals of the
recent Rileys Club Masters.
He crushed Peter Ebdon 5-0 in the second round here and proved that was no
fluke by hammering former world champion Ken Doherty 6-0 in the semi-finals.
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 | | | Ding Junhui wins World Snooker China Open | | |  | | | Luneng beats Shanghai International in opener | | |  | | | Lakers defeat Knicks 117-107 | | |
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