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Chinese prospects on cue in Sheffield
THE cream of Chinese talent could be Sheffield's best chance of seeing the Steel City retain the World Snooker Championship.
Two Yorkshireman, Bradford's Joe Johnson (1986) and Rotherham's Shaun Murphy (2005), have lifted snooker's elite title in recent years, but the city which is synonomous with snooker has been bereft of title hopefuls.
All that though looks likely to change, with the World Snooker Academy based in Sheffield. It is that lure which has seen Chinese trio Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and Liu Chuang set up home in the city to utilise the tremendous training facilities.
Ding may already be a household name, but Lang and Lui are two hot prospects to come from a country which is mad about snooker; 150m tuned in for last year's China Open.
The duo will this weekend compete in the final qualifying round of the World Championship at Sheffield's EIS and the prize is a place at the Crucible next month.
Liang plays Ian McCulloch on Friday and Liu takes on Dominic Dale on Monday.
"I will be trying very hard and I am always confident in my ability,? said 20-year-old Liang, a former World Under-21 champion.
"It is my dream to win the world title and I need to play at the Crucible to do that."
Liu, a 17-year-old playing his debut season on the professional Tour, added: "It would mean everything to play at the Crucible. We are both keen to follow Ding along with many other Chinese players. He is an inspiration to us all."
Ding, a winner of three ranking events and one of China's most famous sportsmen, made his World Championship debut last year.
Other stars in action in the qualifiers include Jimmy White, John Parrott and Marco Fu.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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