The World Championship clash between Chinese superstars Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui could be the most watched snooker match ever.
Zhao blew away the field to become the country’s long-awaited first world champion last year, lifting the crown at the age of 28 by beating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final.
The third session of that historic showpiece was watched by a whopping 24.59million unique viewers across China, with a staggering audience of 180million across the tournament on national broadcaster CCTV5.
Comparatively, the famous 1985 black-ball final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis was watched by 18.5million during the ’80s UK snooker boom.
But the second-round showdown between the two biggest stars from the country could break all records, with the winner set for a quarter-final clash against Shaun Murphy.
Jason Ferguson, chairman of the sport’s governing body WPBSA, has been a key figure in the growth of the sport in the country and he said: ‘It’s a big clash and it could surpass all records, it could be hundreds of millions [watching] in China. who has been a key figure in the growth of the sport there.
Zhao Xintong, 29, made history last year as he became China’s first world champion
‘It could be the highest [television audience], we just keep on breaking records with snooker, it just keeps growing. Since Zhao Xintong won [the world title], snooker has continued to grow and recently we went to the number one sport watched on state media, China Central TV.
‘We have a really popular world champion. He is popular, cool and funny – and funny in both languages. Him winning has had a huge impact on the sport and it has gone from strength to strength.’
Ding is the godfather of Chinese snooker and the meteoric rise of the sport in the country over the past two decades would not have been possible without him.
It is expected that over the next decade or so the majority of the world’s top 16 will be from China, where snooker is on the curriculum.
There were a record 11 cuemen from the country at the Crucible this year and next season will see seven tournaments in the Far East as the China Open returns to the calendar.
But it was Ding who broke the mould and showed a generation of Chinese potters the path they could take.
Ding Junhui, now 39, was the first Chinese star to break through in snooker – and won the China Open in 2005 aged just 18
Ding burst onto the scene by beating Stephen Hendry to win the 2005 China Open, aged 18, which made him the second youngest ever ranking champion after Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Later that year he beat Davis to win one of the game’s majors at the UK Championship.
He reached the final at the Crucible in 2014, but lost 18-14 to Mark Selby.
Zhao is trying to break the famous Crucible Curse this year, where no first-time winner has successfully defended their crown since the tournament moved to its spiritual Sheffield home in 1977.
And he said: ‘Without Ding, none of us would be playing snooker. He is a legend.’
The pair traded blows in Friday’s first session and will resume on Saturday afternoon locked at 4-4 in their best-of-25 showdown.
