Sunday 17 July 2011

China on top of the world

China were crowned snooker's first world champions in 15 years today.

Asian duo Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo combined to beat Northern Ireland 4-2 in the final in Thailand and show why their nation really is the future of snooker.

There are more snooker players in China than anywhere else in the world put together. But this week, Ding and Liang proved they've got the quality as well as the quantity.

We've all known for a long time what an emerging force China are in the snooker world. Although this World Cup win is only a sample of two of countries top players, it at least shows how far they've come. Ten years ago, the thought of China beating the best of British in a World Cup event, would be beyond my belief.

But this week, they scaled them all. It's a pretty big achievement for a nation which harbours such grand plans within the sport, and a sign not only that the sport is becoming global, but in fact, it already is pretty global.

That's why I think China's achievements this week is huge for the game - and the Chinese fans will be absolutely loving it right now.

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