Enter the Dragon: China's Snooker Star

Ding Junhui is a superstar in China. In this document tree, we follow him

with behind-the-scenes access as he plays in one job at the China

Championship. -- Guangzhou. If you want to know what it is like

to be a sporting icon in a country with more than 1 billion people,

Ding Junhui can tell you. There is the sense of national pride when you

win a major tournament. There is the media attention. Enron was to speak

to you. A vast television audience watches every match to play. You get

invited to glamorous events. -- everybody wants to speak you. Your

adoring friends are delighted to meet you. Social media needs to be

kept updated with nearly 5 million people following you. There is also

the knowledge that your success has helped spark a snooker revolution in

China. The next generation of stars has been inspired by you. And a new

type of snooker luxury club is starting to open. It is the night

before the start of the China Championship. The world's top

players and officials are gathering in the lobby of their hotel. They

are waiting for the bus to take them to the opening ceremony. The first

of staging of this tournament has caused great interest here, as only

the winner of the World Championship will receive more this season. It

doesn't take long before Ding Junhui is recognised. The bus journey gives

the players a jazz to catch up. Snooker has been a popular sport in

China's third biggest city for many years. -- a chance to catch up.

Tonight's event takes us to the Guangzhou's tower. An opening

ceremony will take place that tonight. -- there. This redcarpet

event feels more like a movie premiere in Hollywood. Only in China

to snooker players get treated like Fells does. Most of the fancier have

only seen their stars on television, before, so keen to an autograph. --

fans here. So, it is time to launch the new tournament. After the

introductory speeches, the big moment arrives. With a ceremony

over, Ding Junhui quickly because the centre of attention. Suddenly,

it is a media scrum. In Asia, and no other snooker player receives this

level of attention. -- in Asia, no other snooker. The Ding Junhui story

begins on the first of April, 1987. I was born in China, and grew up in

a city and started to play some pool. I was eight years old. He went

to junior school here. The school is very proud of its famous former

pupil. Snooker is popular with the children, and played in many schools

in China. At the age of 12, Ding Junhui move to this city where many

of China's top snooker players are based. My father owned a club when I

started to play snooker. So after that, maybe one or two years, and

then the club shut down, so with the money problems, we moved to Donguan,

the second growing up place to improve my snooker. -- Dongguan.

This is a big decision to move to keep going on with my career, my

snooker career. My father was a big help, because at that age, my age is

like paper. There is nothing on that. So he had to help me to think

about the problems, the positions, every day he looked after me to make

sure I played every shot with concentration, because kids always

like to play fun. When Ding Junhui and his parents moved to the city,

they did not have much money, and the help they received has always

been really appreciated. People were very kind. We have enough money to

live well, and there were a lot of people who helped us, it were to

clubs, we did not need to pay. We don't have too pay a lot to live,

those things. It is time to make the short journey to the venue, where

the China Championship is being said. Ding Junhui is very excitedly

playing in the tournament, given its proximity to Dongguan. This is the

first time that I have played a big tournament here in Guangzhou. I have

lived here for up about seven years. When I was 12 or 13 years old,

snooker players all content to play. There were more tournament here. So

I Kroppy, and I think it is good to come back. Ding Junhui's first-round

opponent is another famous player, Hong Kong's Marco Fu. It is a big

event. Me and Marco Fu have the most people watching on television.

Tonight, I played against Marco Fu, and he is a friend from Hong Kong,

it is over away. About two hours driving. And I have a lot of friends

here, so this is interesting. This security staff are waiting, and Ding

Junhui is quickly escorted in. The practice room is where all the

players had before a match. Everyone is clean to get a look at the

Chinese star. Even his opponent is keeping close watch. -- Tim Ryan is

keen. After a brief practice session, he has to a waiting area.

All players need to dress smartly, and Ding is keen to look his best.

-- Everyone is keen to get a look at. Circa is very popular on

television in China, where it is shown by the national state

broadcaster. 210 million people watch the 2016 World Championship on

CCTV five. He is so popular and famous, so everybody wanted to win.

So that is something very heavy on his shoulders. -- wants him to win.

But generally, I think Ding can deal with this. Ding tries not to put

more pressure on himself by thinking about the people watching on

television. There are a few thousand people in my area, so that is why I

don't think about how many people are watching. The hardest part is

after the match. Winning is OK, but lose... It is harder to learn how to

make it well. In Europe, snooker balls might -- snooker's most

popular star, Ronnie O'Sullivan, knows the pressure. You need to

embrace the expectation level. Either it sits comfortable with you

wouldn't affect your performance. Either way, I think you need to be a

strong character. You have to have big shoulders and be quite

thick-skinned and not allow things to get to you. Ding's fans do not

get to see him win. It is Marco Fu that progresses to the next round.

Defeat can be to take. I am still learning. This is the hard part to

learn. Because when you win, you forget everything, because only

happiness with you. And when you lose, everything is bad. Bad tables,

bad fans, bad balls. Nothing good. Sometimes, I cannot control the well

myself after being beaten by somebody. But sometimes, it is OK.

Every player has to speak to the media after a game, win or lose. In

the past, Ding has found it hard to do with a defeat, but he has been

working on this with a full World Champion, now a leading coach. Every

player will go through it mentally. I will have been through it myself.

One of the reasons I wanted to coach with the mental side is because I

did not have a coach to talk to. So when they are down, I try to give a

bit more in touch with them. He knows everybody who will lose will

not be happy. He will talk to me the next day or a few days, all one I

call him, so he knows... When I talk to him, he tells me the right things

will happen, or something is ready happening, he will tell me how to

accept that, and when you accept those things, you learn from that.

-- or when I call him. With Ding, I think he is very willing to learn,

both the technique and the mental side. Never happy with his game. He

is like all the top players. They always pushing for more. -- and they

are always. Ding's talent was obvious from a young age. He was

invited to train at 15 age. The first time I came in, I was scared

to leave home, a that far. Just myself. -- away that far. One a

first aid here, I don't talk much. I don't talk much with keeping Gary, I

don't talk much with anybody else. -- when I first stayed here. Only

the way that I am going to say I am happy standing nearby the table. --

Keith and Garry. Keith and Garry are happy with Ding. He came over to

practise for about six weeks in 2002, and he beat Peter every day

for six weeks. And then Peter went on to win the World Championships.

The first time I practised with Ding, I find Keith and said he was

very special. I asked where he came from. It was his maturity as much as

anything, which really impressed me. And I was thinking I have never seen

a 15-year-old like this before. In 2003, aged 16, Ding turn

professional. He moved to England, where his new management team ran an

academy. Those early years were not easy. It was tough. He could not do

anything. Not to speak the language or Cork. He literally could not do

anything for us. I can get everything done for him in China. I

don't talk with my family as much. Every day at a play, practice after

practice. I go home, stay by myself, just sitting like that, and thought,

maybe one or two hours, just looking at the floors, the TV, and nothing

to say. Just sitting down there and then it is like a dead man, you

know? It is so boring, so boring. Ding is now one of the richest

snooker players in the world. But back then, his focus was very

simple. He had to keep his place on the main two and earn a living. I

felt the pressure coming the first few years. To be probed. -- pro. I

knew I needed to earn money to be living well, first. And also my

family. I need to help my family, my father, my mum. I want them living

well. So it is not about first round, second round, I want to win

the tournament. And it is difficult. I know I need to work more harder

and also I need to improve quick, because in that time, it is only one

year, one year to stay in the tall. 96 players. -- tour. So I feel

pressure. Ding's break three year was 2005. He beat Stephen Henry to

win the China open in Beijing. There was also success in England when he

won the UK Championship. You might recognise the play he beat. Victory

at the 2011 Masters tournament in London was another career highlight.

-- player. Only the top 16 players are invited to play. Two were from

Asia for the first time. I played good. I played great to give Marco

Fu lips as I gave him quite a lot of times. I know Marco Fu, heap plays

very well. He's a top player to beat. I think for two Asians to get

into the final means a lot to the fans back home. -- he plays. A lot

of the fans really interested and chewed into watchers stayed up late

to watch the whole match, and it was really good for snooker.

Around 70 million people play cue sports in China each week, including

eightball and nine ball and the best young players come to live in

practice at the National Academy. Since 2005, did 's success in

winning tournaments has inspired millions of Chinese children to play

the game. Before, there were a lot of snooker fans, but it is not... It

is nobody can win a tournament, so year by year the snooker fans are

leaving that sport, and they are doing something else. And after

2005, I win it, the TV shows, more snooker, the people are starting,

bringing their skills back to the tables. They are starting to think,

oh, this is a good sport to play. 30 pupils in a raging in age from six

to 22 years old. They practise from Monday to Saturday each week from

9am to 5:30 p.m.. Someday they can be a professional player, and even

be as good as did. They know there are lots of efforts they have to

pay, a lot of time and a lot of energy they have to pay, they have

to prepare for that, that day. Every day begins with a warmup. The

youngsters work with top-class coaches, cutting-edge computer

technology is also used to help them improve. The food here is really

good, too. Mobile phones are kept locked away until lunchtime, to make

sure there are no distractions. Three players from this Academy have

qualified for the main snooker tour since it opened in 2013, including

these two young stars. They both idolise did.

Did is pleased to see this new generation of Chinese players coming

through, I'm happy to give them the benefit of his experience. I can

show them, we can do it. You know, that Chinese players, Asian players,

can win a tournament. The signs of success are already here when it

comes to producing top-class players. In the next ten years,

China could be the dominant snooker superpower. China has just invested

heavily in player development, but also in the business of snooker. The

country stages some of the most prestigious and lucrative

tournaments in the world. I think it just shows the significant growth in

snooker generally, and globally, particularly here in China, it is...

You know, that growth has been consistent and our vents are getting

bigger and bigger. Obviously delighted to see that happening. It

is great for our players, they are playing for huge prize pools now.

The one tournament China would love to stages the World Championship. It

is being held in Sheffield since 1977, and the city has a deal to

keep it there until 2027. But, in the future, could the tournament

ever move abroad? You can never say never. Myself, I am passionate about

staying in Sheffield, because that is what I remember, and the game

starts. Realistically, can we say it is going to be there in 50 years

time? I have no idea. But what we would say is it is a rather clever

commercial twist to say no. Because the messages, you can't buy history,

but you can create your own. So go and do it. And I think the Chinese

are it. The snooker club I used a practice that has been in business

for over 80 years. It is a popular place which anyone can afford to

visit. But, if you want to see what the world's most exclusive billiards

club looks like, you have to come here. The top level of membership is

around 125,000 US dollars a year. There are seven expensively

furnished VIP rooms for the members to use. It is certainly a luxurious

way to relax. China's passion for snooker also extends abroad. Ding

receives great support from the Chinese students studying in the UK,

like these from Cardiff University. Even when he loses a match, like he

did here, he will make time to meet his fans. I am so proud to be here,

and I am so proud of... As I am a student, and I have a chance to come

to hear, and I can be a part of this, to cheer him on. And yes, I am

so excited. Another way Ding engages with his fans is through social

media. He has nearly 5 million followers on the Chinese site Weibo.

Sometimes I want to show when I do funny things. Some... You know, for

the tournament, after the tournament, what I think, I can

share the thinking with snooker fans. The dream of every snooker

player is to win the World Championship. Sheffield's Crucible

Theatre will always be a special place for me, as I won the trophy

here six times. Sheffield is a city Ding knows well. He has lived here

for the past ten years. It is very nice to be here, that is why I like

to spend half the time in the UK, half the time in China. Sometimes I

want to get back to normal life, and I can come here, to stay here, be a

normal person. In China, it is impossible for him to walk down the

street without being recognised, but here, it is a different story. Well,

almost a different story. Hello. Best of luck. Thank you. In 2016,

the Chinese start made history. He became the first player from Asia to

play in the final of the World Championship. The final did not

start well, though, and his opponent brought an early lead. It is quite a

bad start. Big pressure. After 6-0, I started thinking maybe I lose the

big score. It is like 18- two, or three, or something like that. Ding

it wouldn't give up. He kept fighting, and started to play well.

Unfortunately for him, Selby was too good and won his second title. Being

a champion isn't just about talent and hard work. It is also about

having the belief that you can be the best in the world. In the end,

last match in the final is not about the pressure. It is nothing near

that. It is only the faith that you can win. The finals, I learnt a lot.

If you go to the last match stages, you have got to believe in yourself

that you can win. That is all you need to do. Ding Junhui will be

playing at the Crucible for many years to come. And certainly has the

talent to become a multiple world champion.

As April weekends go, I think we are in for a bit

of a treat this weekend, because there is some strong

sunshine to be had for large swathes of the UK on both days.