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Ding's star shines ever brighter
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-05 06:39
"We've been contacted by over 20 companies, Chinese and foreign, from cars to
sports clothes," Wu Shaoqing, a manager from Ding's agent, Beijing Zhonghui
International Sports Management Company, told AFP.
"They all want Ding Junhui, and we are still thinking and making our
choices."
He refused to say how much money was involved but the Oriental Morning Post
said seven-figure sums were being bandied around, which is close to what
sponsors pay Liu.
Hailing from Yixing city in China's Jiangsu Province, Ding has always been
focused on what he wants to achieve in life, his father said.
"He's got very high goals for his life. He always wants to do his best," Ding
Wenjun said.
His success is even more impressive given that he left home when he was eight
for southern Guangdong Province to pursue his dream.
He now lives in Northamptonshire in Britain during the European season and
has had to battle home-sickness while struggling to grasp the English language.
Ding senior used to be a self-employed businessman but sacrificed all this in
1996 to take his son on a tour of the country to better his snooker training and
to take part in professional matches.
The father said that after all the years of hard work he feels Ding is
closing in on his goal, and that pushing him so hard was the right decision.
"I've got the kind of feeling that we've achieved something, and it is not
easy for us, to achieve something in a sport where there is obviously a vacuum
in China," he said, referring to the lack of government support for the sport.
Davis, who has also won the UK title six times, believes Ding has what it
takes to be up there with the best, but also offered words of caution against
hailing him as the sport's saviour.
"He's certainly on course to become a world champion and he's got a realistic
chance of being the youngest ever," Davis told the BBC.
"I think he's the first young player since Ronnie O'Sullivan to really look
like he could take the game by storm."
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