Ding will aim to be last man standing yet again

Ding Junhui will look to become the first snooker player this century to chalk up four successive ranking titles when he cues off at the UK Championship.

The Sheffield-based potter – who has bought a house in the Steel City where he has lived since moving from China as a rookie teenager – has already bagged a hat-trick of trophies and £250,000 prize money in a six-week purple patch.

That triple, which was completed with victory in last weekend’s International Championship in Chengdu, meant Ding was the first player since Stephen Hendry in 1993 to win three consecutive ranking titles – a feat not even stars like Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins can boast of.

Hendry holds the all-time record of five successive wins in 1990, with Steve Davis the only other player from the modern day era to have completed the hat-trick.

While Ding is not playing up his chances of success at the williamhill.com-sponsored event at York Barbican, when the UK finals start on November 26, the 26-year-old is in rich form and the obvious man to beat.

“I’m very pleased to get three in a row and hope I can do better!” said Ding, who lifted the UK title in 2005 and 2009.

“I’m not sure about five in a row as I’m not sure I’ll win the next one. I’m just happy to win matches and spend every day happily.

“I feel rather tired now and really need some time to rest. The tournaments have been happening frequently recently and I’m just happy to be the last one standing each time. But mentally I need a break, to relax.

“There’s been a lot of competition and practice. My potting, safety and long shots were not as good in Chengdu, I just had a better time break-building.”

In a sport once dominated by British players, the influence of Asian cuemen has certainly been highlighted over the last two months.

Ding beat Hong Kong’s Marco Fu 10-9 in Chengdu, the third successive final which has seen two Asian players compete for the trophy.

Ding won the Shanghai Masters in September with victory over Xiao Guodong and the Indian Open in October by beating Aditya Mehta.

That brings Ding’s total number of ranking wins to nine, level with Peter Ebdon and John Parrott.

Hendry, Steve Davis, O’Sullivan, Higgins, Mark Williams and Jimmy White are the ones who have won more.

In Chengdu, Ding’s impressive break-building secured a 6-4 lead over Fu. This included five centuries and a 92.

Even when Fu battled back to take the lead three times, Ding showed his appetite for a scrap as he clinched a 10-9 win and the £125,000 top prize – the biggest winning cheque outside of the UK.

“At the start of the match, I didn’t perform my best safety shots so I gave him an early lead,” said Ding.

“I felt I messed up but I did recover with a good attacking game to take back the lead before the evening session, and it gave me an advantage.

“Marco was really in great form and it’s anyone’s title when it’s down to the decider.”

Veteran Fu was full of praise for Ding afterwards and even compared the China cueman with snooker legend Hendry, both having the ability to produce century clearances during pressure moments.

“In terms of break-building, I think Ding’s playing like Hendry in his prime,” said Fu.

“His ability makes me think of Hendry’s seven century breaks against Ken Doherty in the 1994 UK Championship final, plus he’s playing with great confidence now.

“I put him under a lot of pressure, leading 8-7 and 9-8, but he fought back very quickly. A lot of tough shots I thought he would miss, he didn’t. Hendry was great under pressure and Ding is kind of like that, playing even better under pressure. It’s special and very rare.

“I won a long frame to go 9-8 up and it lasted over an hour so I was a bit tired, but I didn’t lose my patience. In the last two frames I didn’t make bad mistakes, so I’m not very disappointed.

“It was a tough final and Ding played great snooker. His break-building is so good.

“Most of the frames I lost were not due to my mistakes, he made the most of every half-chance. So I think to get nine frames was not bad.”

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