Ding Junhui hopes Sheffield snooker academy can help Chinese players succeed on the world tour
- The former world No 1 wants a UK base for Chinese players looking to make it big on the world circuit
- Youngster Gao Yang, two-time ranking event finalist Xiao Guodong and Thai Noppon Saengkham are among the players making use of the facility
Ding Junhui has been a role model for Chinese snooker players for almost two decades. Now the mainland’s number one player is giving younger compatriots who want to challenge him a chance to make it on the world circuit.
The 33-year-old Ding has opened his own academy in Sheffield, England – the spiritual centre of world snooker – to give himself a place to practise and help develop the skills of fellow Chinese and Asian professionals.
The Ding Junhui Snooker Academy, which opened earlier this year just five minutes walk from the Crucible, hosts a number of China’s best young talents including WSF Junior Open winner Gao Yang, two-time ranking event finalist Xiao Guodong and Thailand’s number two Noppon Saengkham.
“I need a good facility for the rest of my career, as I have been practising in a club for the last two seasons. I didn’t feel good about that and wanted my own academy. It is great for the other Chinese players, who there are more of on the tour every year,” world No 10 Ding told World Snooker Tour.
“A lot of them are young and they need good tables and conditions. It needs to feel like a tournament for them. There is no point in them coming over here and wasting their time. When I was young I had good tables to play on.
“I want to see them have the same things and make improvements while they are young. What I don’t want to see is them travel to the UK for one or two seasons and then have to go back. That is no good for snooker or snooker’s history.