Snooker Ding wins national championship

May 21 - A 100 break in the sixth frame helped Chinese snooker prodigy¹ Ding Junhui rally to beat Jin Long to win the Dongguan leg of the 2007 China Professional Snooker Circuit on Sunday.

For the first time, the 20-year-old won a championship trophy² in the city where he started his career in 1998.

Neither of the players could build an overwhelming lead in the first phase on Saturday, and the score was 2-2 before Sunday’s competition began.

Ding proved that he has recently re-found his form after the game resumed. And a 52 break gave him the upper hand, which convinced the audience that the suspense³ might be over. However, an unexpected mishit gifted his rival a chance to finish the frame 84-52.

But the lag looked like nothing for sophisticated Ding, who has encountered numerous dilemmas⁴ in big international events. The boy hit back with a 100 break, his third stroke at the event more than 100 points, to level the score 3-3.

Ding grabbed the match point after winning the ninth and, after an error-trading 10th frame, the legend struggled to clinch⁵ the victory.

Ding was also awarded for a 136 break in an earlier game, the highest at the event.

This is the second time that he has won both titles at the national snooker tour. The last time he achieved the same feat⁶ was in 2006, in Yixing, central Hubei province.