By Zhao Rui (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-25 09:14

Ding Junhui and the rest of China's best snooker players made headlines in 2007 for very different reasons.

The 20-year-old wunderkind Ding failed to continue his magical run, ending the year without a title. But with four other players beginning their professional careers on the Main Tour, a Chinese snooker force is shaping up for the first time.

China's Ding Junhui plays a shot during the top-eight match against Stephen Maguire from Scotland at the Northern Ireland Trophy 2007 in Belfast November 8, 2007. Ding lost 3-5. [Xinhua]

Once considered a "street sport" in China, snooker, like basketball and tennis, now boasts a fast-growing Chinese contingent that has impressed the world.

"When I look back on the whole year I'd say 'Oh, it is amazing'", said Zhang Xiaodong, snooker director of the Multi-ball Administrative Center, the sport's governing body in China. "I am so proud to see a couple of Chinese boys, not just Ding, appear at these professional tournaments in England and Scotland and compete against the very best players, whom we used to watch on television.

"Many people say Ding is like Yao Ming in basketball because he made the whole world know what Chinese snooker is all about. Now we have our Yi Jianlian in snooker as more talented kids are coming out with great potential."

Four Chinese players made their names on the Main Tour this year - Liu Song is ranked No 54, Tian Pengfei is No 77, Xiao Guodong No 82 and Liu Chuang squeezed into the official rankings at No 86.

"It's a lot of fun to see China become 'a force' in snooker. We didn't really know what was going on in the pro tour five years ago, but all of a sudden we have a group of players here competing," Zhang said.

"They give us a lot more to talk about other than Ding. They are trailblazers. They show millions of Chinese families that professional dreams are accessible, and tell sponsors there is a huge market behind them.

"They also prove that what the authorities have done over the past three years is correct, so we will keep on communicating with the World Snooker Association for more clinics and training camps and we will try to import as many pro events as possible."

Exciting youngsters

Despite a lack of experience and limited English skills, the exciting youngsters have made China the second most competitive snooker country outside of the United Kingdom, following Australia, which has eight top-96 players.

Chinese players have grown remarkably over the last year. Liu, a 23-year-old from Tianjin, entered his first pro semifinal event at the Royal London Watches Grand Prix in October, while Tian fought to three main draws from qualifiers, his best result in three years.

"The year means so much for me," said Xiao, who is sponsored by a sports company in Shenzhen. "I used to feel nervous when I had a match against players from the UK, so I could not even think about winning. I always crashed very easily.

"But now it's different. I trained with them and competed against them every week in England and I realized I had what it takes to beat them. I am building up my confidence match by match."

But as Xiao grew more certain about his future in the UK, this year has been another story for Ding, who slowed down despite the hype, unable to bring home trophies as easily as before.

World No 9 Ding hasn't gone beyond the quarterfinals throughout the season and his fragile nerves have been heavily criticized.

Ding was in tears after his 10-3 loss to world No 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan in front of a partisan crowd at the British Masters in January, but he insisted he has no problems controlling his emotions.

"I am not a man with poor mentality, I just hate to lose like everybody on the tour," Ding said. "I want to win every match. I don't care how media talk about me, I just cannot tolerate myself if I play like an amateur, that's it."

Despite his collapse, Ding can depart 2007 with his head held high.

He became the first Asian player to reach the final of the Masters, the most prestigious event in the sport, and despite his loss to O'Sullivan, his exploits captivated his growing army of fans.

Public interest was so high that China Central Television (CCTV) was forced to reschedule its programming at the last minute to provide coverage of the final three rounds.

It was at the China Open in 2005 that Ding announced his arrival at snooker's top table by defeating then top-ranked Stephen Hendry to win his first ranking tournament, in front of a television audience of 110 million.

Ding found more success later that year when he won the UK championship by beating another of the game's greats, Steve Davis.

The huge television ratings have not gone unnoticed by a sport still struggling to break out of its British heartland: World Snooker has its only staffed international office in Beijing and gave China its second pro tournament in Shanghai this year.

"We are not in a hurry to achieve something," said Zhang. "I hope we will have two or three more players on the tour so that they can help each other and improve little by little."