Ding Junhui (also known as Enter The Dragon) is one of the most accomplished snooker players around. He has won 14 major tournaments in his career and has also made it to the final of the World Championship twice. He is considered to be one of the most successful Asian players in history.
His father, a passionate snooker fan, introduced the Chinese pro snooker player to the game when he was eight years old. He went to the Shanghai national snooker team as a child and has been a major success in the home country.
Ding was the youngest ever player to break a televised, 147-break in history. He was also the winner of the IBSF World Under-21 Championship. This was his first professional title and he was ranked as a world number nine at the end of the 2006-07 season.
During his career, Ding has won a total of fourteen major ranking titles. He is also a past three-time UK Champion. Ding has more than 500 century break records throughout his career, having started playing professionally when he was sixteen. Unfortunately, Ding's absences in recent times have had a detrimental impact on his match-sharpness. Ding is a popular Chinese social media user.
Ding reached the final of China Open at 18 years old and was then the first player from Ireland and Great Britain to win a ranking trophy. He also beat Marco Fu to win the first all-Asian final.
Ding is no longer the number one snooker player worldwide, despite his success in his home country. In the last six years, his career has been in decline. Currently, he is ranked ninth in the world. Since 2017, he hasn't participated in any big-money ranking events.
But, the 34 year-old has a strong resume. He has won a total of almost $5 million in major tournaments. He won five ranking event tournaments during 2013-14, and reached the semifinals the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix. He was defeated in the quarter finals by Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, and Shaun Murphy.
Ding has won ten matches in 2019 and compiles ten century wins. Moreover, Ding has reached the semifinals of the Ladbrokes Players Tour Championship. Therefore, it is probable that Ding will return to January's World Championship.
In addition, he has managed to beat the world top 16 players. He defeated Joe Perry and Mark Williams, James Cahill and Thepchaiya un-Nooh. Moreover, he made seven centuries in the semi-finals of the Shangai Masters.
When he was 18 years old, he won the Chinese National Championship and became the youngest player in the world to compile six maximum breaks. His ranking rose by seven spots, and he became the ninth-best player in snooker.
Ding was ranked in the top 16 rankings before that. However, he was forced to drop out of the top 16. Ding was a fixture of the Asian snooker scene throughout his entire career.