Chinese icon taking aim at world title

LONDON - Chinese cue maestro Ding Junhui might not have had a great season, but all of China and millions of neutral observers around the globe hope to see him go one better than last year and become Asia's first world snooker champion.

The 30-year-old, who lost to Mark Selby in the 2016 final, begins his campaign against 19-year-old compatriot Zhou Yuelong on Monday.

The championship kicks off on Saturday in what is the 40th year of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield hosting the sport's showpiece.

"Ding has been one of the fundamental reasons why snooker has grown so big," World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn told the BBC.

"He has been the flagbearer of Chinese snooker for the past 10 to 12 years and has inspired hundreds of thousands of Chinese players by bringing the game into the living rooms of the entire population."

Ding has one ranking tournament win to his credit this season - the Shanghai Masters - and reached the final of the International Championship.

Among those he has inspired is 17-year-old Yan Bingtao, who made his way through qualifying to set up a meeting with 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy.

"I picked up a cue all because of watching Ding," said Yan.

"He is like an elder brother to all of us. We worship him," added Yan, who will be the first player born in this century to contest the championships.

Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, whose last world title came in 2013 when he successfully defended his crown, opens against Gary Wilson, who is one of five debutants.

As on so many occasions, the question is which version of O'Sullivan will turn up?

The 41-year-old has of late been giving one-word answers at media conferences and even started singing the Oasis hit Wonderwall in response to a BBC journalist's question.

O'Sullivan, who beat Joe Perry for a record seventh Masters title this season after losing to Selby in the UK Championship final, is a dream draw for 31-year-old journeyman Wilson.

"I like this kind of venue, I think of it like a working men's club that I am used to playing at," said Wilson.

"A two-table set-up and old guys sitting around in chairs! It's just a dream come true to be playing at the Crucible for the first time."

Selby, who has proven to be something of a nemesis for O'Sullivan, beating him in the 2010 Masters final and depriving him of a world title three-peat in 2014, will face Irish veteran Fergal O'Brien.

Selby, whose patient play once prompted O'Sullivan to nickname him 'The Torturer', will be up against a man who has made the record books with the longest frame in professional snooker history-a feat that earned O'Brien his date with the two-time champion.

The Irishman needed two hours, three minutes and 41 seconds - 44 seconds longer than Kenyan athlete Dennis Kipruto's marathon world record - to beat David Gilbert, but the 45-year-old offered an olive branch to fans awaiting Saturday's clash.

"Would I like to play like that again? Absolutely not," O'Brien said.

Agence France-Presse