Chinese snnoker star Ding Junhui poses in front of a poster of the cartoon, Dragon Ball No 1, 2011 file photo. [Photo/sports.sohu.com]

More stories about Ding Junhui: Heroic cartoon image; World Champs trip

An animated cartoon, Dragon Ball No 1, showcasing Chinese snooker ace Ding Junhui's life story will be broadcast on the TV screen soon.

The 52-episode TV series, China's first sports-star themed one, tells the story of how a nine-year-old boy called Xiao Hui, who actually bears Ding Junhui's given name, worked hard to become a famous snooker player and finally win the world No 1 title.

Some of Ding's own experiences, including his growth from a shy boy to a snooker star and his father's influence in leading him to the world of snooker, are important plots in the cartoon.

According to Ding, the main character, Xiao Hui, shares important qualities with himself: strong self-belief and persistence on his way to becoming a world champion.

But Ding's fans find the image of Xiao Hui, especially his red hair and big eyes, closely resembles that of Sun Wukong, also known as Monkey King, a famous cartoon character originally featured in the classical Chinese epic novel, Journey to the West.

Ding will also appear in the cartoon series at the end of every episode, in which he teaches children how to play snooker, according to Ding's agent Zhang Meng.

"Ding likes cartoons very much and he hopes this cartoon series will help more children with dreams fall in love with the gentlemanly sport of snooker (like himself)," said Zhang.

The cartoon series will be shown in May in the local TV channel of Shanghai, before screening nationwide on the Children's Channel of the China Central Television (CCTV) in July.