Xinhua News Agency, London, January 19th question: After Ding Junhui lost to O’Sullivan
Xinhua News Agency reporter Prince Jiang
lost to the “rocket” O’Sullivan with 3:6. Ding Junhui lost only a semi-final of the Masters competition, but gained precious friendship, enthusiastic encouragement and 12 years of growth joy.
As soon as the game was over, O’Sullivan, the greatest snooker player in history who was destined to remove “one” in the near future, hugged Ding Junhui and kissed his cheek affectionately, then in the warm applause of the audience, they always walked and talked with a smile and walked out of the stadium together.
Ding Junhui couldn’t see the frustration and disappointment of failure, and was also immersed in the intimate conversation between the two.
This reminds people of the finals of the Masters in 2007. Ding Junhui, who was only 19 years old, lost to O’Sullivan at 3:10. Xiao Ding, who was not the champion, couldn’t accept the blow of failure for a while and cried bitterly on the court, o’Sullivan immediately stepped forward to hold him, comforted him, and said that one day he would definitely lift the championship trophy.
A lot of things happened in 12 years. Ding Junhui really won the Masters championship in 2011, won more than a dozen other championships, and won the first place in the world.
Ding Junhui is 31 years old, which is the age of O’Sullivan in 2007. He can treat failure with a more peaceful attitude.
He said after the game: “He said he loved me, he said my playing style was pleasing to the eye, and he also said he was very happy to see me make progress. I told him that I had always been confident in the competition. I also said that I believed that I would get better and better and that I would become a stronger player in the next 10 years.”
But O’Sullivan believes that his dialogue with Ding Junhui after the game is “personal privacy” and cannot be disclosed to reporters. But he could not hide his love and encouragement to Ding Junhui’s big brother.
“Everyone knows that we have a close relationship. I don’t often kiss people, but I like Ding Junhui. He is a special guy and a special person.”
He also praised Ding Junhui’s “natural material for playing snooker”, “natural snooker brain” and “playing style belongs to pure natural handy”. Therefore, “I like Ding Junhui more than anyone else.”
In his eyes, he never felt that Ding Junhui was a child, because he seemed to forget the scene after the 2007 final.
“He won the World Series at the age of 16. He has always been a man and has not been a child for a long time. China should be proud of him. For China, he is a very, very special guy, a man and a good man.”
British media believe that only Ding Junhui’s influence in snooker can be compared with O’Sullivan, because Ding Junhui has many Chinese fans, while O’Sullivan conquers the world purely by football skills. After all, snooker is a minority sport, which is mainly carried out in Britain. If Ding Junhui has the same advantages as British players, the results will be more brilliant.
However, Ding Junhui did not take the inconvenience brought to Chinese players by the sport itself into consideration. He still aimed at O’Sullivan and expected a bigger breakthrough.
“I am looking forward to playing with him most, because he is the best player in the world. I know how to improve when playing with him. Today his words are an affirmation to I am, let me add some confidence to myself, because few people talk to me like this, especially face to face.”
Where is the gap between him and O’Sullivan?
Ding Junhui said: “In fact, our skills are similar. It depends on who is more stable. I need to keep my level within a certain level to win.”
“What I should learn from him most is that I can beat my opponent without playing the best level.”