Ding Junhui is also known as Enter Dragon and is one of most successful snooker player in the world. He has won 14 major tournaments over his career. He also reached the finals of the World Championship twice. In fact, he is the most successful Asian player ever.
Chinese pro snooker star, Hao Zhiqiu, was introduced by his father to the game at eight. He was a snooker enthusiast. As a kid, he went to Shanghai's national snooker team and has been a major success there.
In 2007, Ding became the youngest player in history to make a televised 147 break. Ding also won the IBSF World Under-21 Championship that year. He won this title for the first time and was ranked nineth in the world at the conclusion of the 2006/07 season.
Ding won a total 14 major ranking titles throughout his career. He is also the three-time UK Champion. Ding started his professional career at the age of sixteen and has amassed more than 500 century records during his career. However, his absences in recent years have had a negative impact on his match sharpness. Ding still has a large social media following in China.
At age 18, Ding reached the final of the China Open and then became the first player from outside Great Britain and Ireland to win a ranking title. He also defeated Marco Fu in his first all Asian final.
Despite the success of his home country, Ding has not been able to maintain his status as the number one snooker player in the world. His career has taken a downward turn in the past six years. He is currently ranked 9th in the World. He has not participated in any major ranking events since 2017.
The 34-year old has a solid resume. He has won over $5 million in major tournaments. During the 2013-14 season, he won five ranking event tournaments and made it to the semifinals of the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix. In the quarter-finals, he was defeated by Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins.
In 2019, Ding won ten matches, and has compiled ten centuries breaks. Ding reached the semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Players Tour Championship. It is therefore expected that he will return to the World Championship in January.
In addition, he beat 16 of the top world players. He defeated Joe Perry and Mark Williams, James Cahill and Thepchaiya un-Nooh. He also made seven centuries in semi-finals at the Shangai Masters.
At 18 years of age, he won China's National Championship. He became the youngest player to record six maximum breaks. After that, his ranking increased by seven spots to become the ninth-best snooker player in the world.
Ding remained at the top 16 in the rankings prior to 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.