When Ding Junhui—“The Oriental Star” took to snooker， he never expected himself to be a world champion， a national icon and phenomenon.

Born on April 1， 1987 in Yixing， Jiangsu， snooker superstar Ding Junhui has accomplished an impressive string of victories since 2000. With impressive victories in the China Open， the UK Championship and the Northern Ireland Open， the Chinese snooker prodigy has become only the second player in history， the first one being Ronnie OSullivan， to pull off such feats before the age of 20.

While many snooker fans may easily list the prizes Ding has won， few of them know that he first entered the field as a wild card. According to his father， Ding Wenjun， who also was a snooker player， he first detected his sons remarkable talent when Ding was just 8. In order to ensure that the boy always had a table on which to practice， Ding Wenjun gave up his business and opened a snooker club. Later， in order to further improve Ding Junhuis skill， the senior Ding decided to bring the boy to Dongguan in Guangdong Province， where the national snooker team trains.

But their stay in Dongguan was to be full of hardships. Both father and son lived in cramped conditions， sharing a five-square-meter room adjoining the local snooker club. Ding usually spent eight to ten hours every day in the poolroom playing snooker alone. He said snooker occupied all his life.

“I sometimes got bored. I also wanted to stop and go out to frolic with other children， but I couldnt. My parents had given up a lot of things for me， so I had no other options but play snooker. ”

Their tremendous efforts finally paid off in April 2005， when Ding claimed the title of China Open champion as a wild-card entrant. He caused a sensation in December 2005 when he beat Nuggets Steve Davis to win the UK Open. Ding became the first ever player from outside the British Isles to win the UK Championship. While the world cheered his success， Dings competitors also gave a thumbs-up for this remarkable young man.

Even now， having reached the heights in world snooker， Ding practices as hard as ever—eight hours a day from 10 am to 6 pm， without a day off. Ding Junhui said he felt lucky to have the chance to play against world-class opponents.

“They each have their own style. Only by dealing with each of them will I become fully prepared in any situation，” said the young man.

As a matter of fact， Ding is mature for his age and looks very relaxed on the big stage. According to Ding Wenjun， the most remarkable feature of his son is that he keeps a cool head， an important characteristic for a snooker player.

“When back at home， he likes to play video games. He is still a child now making up for what he had lost in his childhood，” said his mother.

In his spare time， Ding likes to watch Jackie Chan movies and enjoys swimming. “Both of them bring me total relaxation，” he said. 】

如今享有“东方之星”美名的丁俊晖当年迷上斯诺克运动的时候，绝对没想到自己有朝一日会登上世界冠军的宝座，成为中国人的偶像，且被誉为“台球神童”。

丁俊晖1987年4月1日出生于江苏宜兴。自2000年起，这位征战赛场的斯诺克巨星捷报频传。在斯诺克中国公开赛、斯诺克英国锦标赛、斯诺克北爱尔兰公开赛上，这位中国的斯诺克奇才接连夺冠，成为继罗尼·奥沙利文之后，历史上第二位在20岁前取得加此不凡佳绩的球手。

说到丁俊晖获得的奖项，许多斯诺克球迷都能如数家珍地列出来，但很少人知道一开始他只是作为一名外卡选手参加斯诺克比赛的。丁俊晖的父亲丁文钧曾经也是一名斯諾克球手。丁俊晖8岁时，他察觉到儿子在斯诺克运动方面的惊人天赋。为了保证儿子有球台练习球技，丁文钧放弃了原来的生意，开了一家台球俱乐部。后来，为了进一步提高儿子的球技，丁文钧决定把他带到广东东莞，因为那里是中国斯诺克国家队的集训地。

然而，他们在东莞的日子却历尽艰辛。父子俩的居住环境非常狭窄，他俩挤在一个只有五平方米的小房间里，这里紧挨着当地一家台球俱乐部。丁俊晖通常每天花8到10小时在球室独自练球。他说他的生活完全被台球占据了。

“我有时候会厌倦这样的生活，也想停下来，去外面跟其他小孩玩玩闹闹，不过我不能这样做。父母为我放弃了很多东西，我没有别的选择，只能专心打台球。”

2005年4月，丁俊晖作为外卡选手参加世界斯诺克中国公开赛，赢得了冠军，一家人的辛勤付出终于有了回报。2005年12月，他打败绰号“天然金块”的史蒂夫·戴维斯，赢得斯诺克英国公开赛冠军，引起一番轰动，成为首位来自不列颠群岛之外赢取斯诺克英国锦标赛的球手。 大家都在为丁俊晖的胜利欢呼，连他的对手也对这个了不起的年轻人竖起了大拇指。

即使已经贵为世界顶尖选手，丁俊晖还是苦练如常——每天8小时，从早上10点到晚上6点，日复一日，从不间断。丁俊晖说能和世界级的选手交手，他感到很幸运。

“他们有各自的风格。只有跟他们逐一切磋过，我才能有备而战，应付各种情况。”丁俊晖说道。

说实在的，丁俊晖要比同龄人成熟些。在大赛上，他显得很从容。父亲丁文钧说，儿子最突出的一点就是能保持头脑冷静，这是斯诺克选手应该具备的重要素质之一。

“在家里，他爱打电子游戏。他还是个小孩，现在想把小时候错失的东西都补回来。”丁俊晖的母亲说道。

闲暇的时候，丁俊晖爱看成龙演的电影，也喜欢游泳。 “两者都能让我彻底放松。”他说。