在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Sports
Home / Sports / Snooker

Ding Junhui: 'This year, I'm doing good'

By Dominic Morgan in Wuxi | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-07-07 10:38
Share
Share - WeChat

In an exclusive interview, Ding Junhui reveals he's never felt more confident of becoming China's first ever world snooker champion.

Ding Junhui takes a shot during his match against Ireland at the 2017 Little Swan Snooker World Cup in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on July 3. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Ding Junhui looks a changed man. China's greatest ever snooker player has cut a diffident figure for much of his career, but he seems positively buoyant as he begins the new season at the World Cup in his hometown of Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

The world number four meets us minutes after he and Liang Wenbo finish off a routine 5-0 victory over Ireland's Ken Doherty and Fergal O'Brien, the echoes of the crowd's roars still reverberating around the corridors of Wuxi Sports Garden Stadium.

Due to a lack of alternatives, we are in a cramped, cluttered office behind the playing area that smells strongly of stale smoke. But Ding's trademark shy grin does not waver for a second.

Little seems to phase Ding these days. Where once the responsibility of representing China on the world stage seemed to weigh him down, at 30 years old he looks more energized than he has in years.

"After the World Championship, this is the first tournament [of the season]. I've been away practicing for two months, so I'm excited," he enthuses.

Ding's sense of anticipation stems from his feeling that the dream he's been chasing for half his life is finally within his grasp: Winning the fabled World Snooker Championship.

A World Championship title, the greatest prize in the sport, is the one glaring hole in Ding's otherwise immaculate snooker CV. Becoming the first Asian player to win the tournament is an obsession, both for him and for his millions of fans in China.

Ding has come agonizingly close the last two years. In 2016, he lost a close final 18-14 to Mark Selby—watched by an audience of more than 100 million people in China—before losing 17-15 to the same opponent in the 2017 semifinal, a match that was instantly recognized as an all-time classic.

Though those matches ended in defeat, Ding says he viewed both tournaments as a big step forward.

"I had good thinking, good form, every time this year and last year in the World Championship. I played very well in that tournament all the way to the semifinal, and I'm still confident [I'll] win the title," he says.

World number four Ding Junhui lines up a shot during his match against Ireland at the 2017 Little Swan Snooker World Cup in Wuxi on July 3. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

There is certainly a new sense of momentum about Ding. Whereas his run to the final in 2016 came almost out of the blue after an indifferent season, his performances in 2017 convinced a lot of people in the snooker world that he is finally a world champion in waiting.

After Ding defeated his childhood hero Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarterfinal, six-time world champion Steve Davis said he had "answered a lot of questions at the Crucible that he has not answered before." O'Sullivan commented that Ding looked "a different player".

According to Ding, the key to his improvement has been finally learning to cope with the enormous weight of expectation on his shoulders.

“Usually when I play the World Championship, there's too much pressure on that tournament so I lose the best part of [my game:] My break building, my spinning, cue action," he says. "I'm more focused now … I play every shot a bit quicker, and with less pressure."

"That's why it's different this year than before," he adds. "I failed a bit in the last few frames this year, but I will work harder and I will play better [next time]. Hopefully, I'll win it."

It's easy to see why it has taken Ding so long to reach this point. Even compared to other sports stars, his journey to fame and success has been arduous and discombobulating.

Determined to make it in professional snooker, Ding left home at just 15 years old to live and train in the UK. He made his base in Sheffield, just minutes from the Crucible Theatre, where the World Championship is held each year.

Unlike today, there was hardly any support network for young Chinese players, and Ding admits that the demands of adapting to a new culture, learning a new language, and breaking onto the tour tested him to the limit.

"I was scared because I'd never been that far away from home. I worried too much, in my normal days, how I'm living," he recalls. "The hardest thing was living there. How I stay on the tour … I learned a lot about living with myself."

1 2 Next   >>|

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲777 | 久久成人精品 | 欧美精品在线观看 | 俺要去97中文字幕 | 波多野结衣一区二区三区高清 | 久久精品二区亚洲w码 | 久久久精品网站 | 欧美日韩久久精品 | 久久爱综合网 | 欧美日韩在线一区二区 | 亚洲日本伊人 | 男人的天堂在线视频 | h视频在线免费 | 国产一级淫片91aaa | 91精品国产一区二区 | 久久精品小视频 | 久久综合狠狠综合久久综合88 | 日韩一区二区在线视频 | 中文字幕视频免费观看 | 久久久精品999 | 青青免费视频 | 国产精品久久久久久久一区探花 | 一级欧美一级日韩片 | 超碰人人在线 | 天堂成人国产精品一区 | 午夜精品久久久久久久星辰影院 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区四区视频 | 麻豆三区 | 亚洲一区播放 | 日韩在线视频中文字幕 | 国产精品一区在线看 | 日韩欧美视频 | 日中文字幕在线 | 能看的av| 国产精品久久久久aaaa九色 | 免费一区二区三区视频在线 | 欧美日韩一区二区三区在线观看 | 人人超碰免费 | 91精品国产综合久久精品 | 色com| 四虎4hu新地址入口2023 |