Ding Junhui also known to the world as Enter the Dragon, has been one of the most successful players in snooker. He has won 14 major tournaments in his career and has also made it to the final of the World Championship twice. In fact, he is the most successful Asian player ever.
Chinese pro snooker players were introduced to the game by their father, who was a keen snooker enthusiast. As a youngster, he attended the Shanghai national snooker club and was a huge success in his home country.
In 2007, Ding became the youngest player in history to make a televised 147 break. He also won the IBSF World Under-21 Championship in the same year. This was his first professional title and he was ranked as a world number nine at the end of the 2006-07 season.
Ding has won a total fourteen major ranking titles over the course of his career. He is also the three-time UK Champion. Ding has more than 500 century break records throughout his career, having started playing professionally when he was sixteen. However, his recent absences have had an adverse impact on Ding's match sharpness. Ding enjoys a huge following on social media in China despite this.
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, despite the success of his homeland, has not been in a position to keep his title as the top snooker player. His career has taken a downward turn in the past six years. He is currently ranked ninth around the globe. And he has not played in a big money ranking event since 2017.
The 34-year old has a solid resume. He has won a total of almost $5 million in major tournaments. He won five ranking tournament tournaments during the 2013-14 season and reached the semifinals at the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix. He was defeated in the quarter finals by Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, and Shaun Murphy.
He has won ten matches during the 2019 season and recorded ten century breaks. Ding reached the semifinals in the Ladbrokes Players Tour Championship. His return to the World Championship is anticipated in January.
He has also managed to defeat the 16 world's top players. He defeated Joe Perry, Mark Williams, James Cahill, and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. He also made seven centuries in semi-finals at 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. He rose seven spots in his ranking to become the ninth best snooker player on the planet.
Ding had remained in the top 16 ranks for a while before this. Eventually, however, he fell out of the top 16. Ding has been a regular in the Asian Snooker scene all his life.