Ding Junhui is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport and widely regarded as the greatest Asian player of all time. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships. He has twice reached the final of the Masters, winning once in 2011. In 2016, he became the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Championship.
A maximum break is the highest possible break in a single frame of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 reds with 15 blacks for 120 points, followed by all six colours for a further 27 points. Compiling a maximum break is regarded as a highly significant achievement in the game of snooker, and may be compared to a nine-dart finish in darts or a 300 game in ten-pin bowling.
The Welsh Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been held annually since 1992. It replaced the Welsh Professional Championship, which ran annually from 1980 to 1991 and was open only to Welsh players. The Welsh Open is now the longest running ranking event after the World Championship and the UK Championship. Since the 2016–17 season, it has been one of four tournaments in the Home Nations Series, alongside the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open, and the English Open. Since 2017, the winner of the event has received the Ray Reardon Trophy, named after the Welsh six-time world champion. Reardon himself presented the newly named trophy to 2017 winner Stuart Bingham.
The 2011 Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 18 and 24 July 2011 at the Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia.
The 2012 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held between 15 and 22 January 2012 at the Alexandra Palace in London, England. This was the first time that Stephen Hendry didn't participate at the Masters since his début in 1989, and the first time that BGC Partners sponsored the event.
The 2012 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 13 and 19 February 2012 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. This was the first time, that 888真人 sponsored the event.
The 2013 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2013 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 37th consecutive year the Crucible had hosted the World Snooker Championship; the 2013 event was the last ranking tournament of the 2012–13 snooker season. Sports betting company Betfair sponsored the event for the first time.
The 2013 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11 and 17 February 2013 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. It was the seventh ranking event of the 2012/2013 season, and the first time that BetVictor sponsored the event.
The 2013 Players Tour Championship Grand Final was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 12 and 17 March 2013 at the Bailey Allen Hall in Galway, Republic of Ireland. It was the ninth ranking event of the 2012/2013 season.
The 2013 Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 8–14 July 2013 at the Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia. It was the second ranking event of the 2013/2014 season.
The 2013 Indian Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament held between 14 and 18 October 2013 at the Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi, India. It was the first ranking event held in India, and the fourth ranking event of the 2013/2014 season.
The 2014 German Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 29 January–2 February 2014 at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany. It was the seventh ranking event of the 2013/2014 season.
The 2014 China Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that took place between 31 March and 6 April 2014 at the Beijing University Students' Gymnasium in Beijing, China. It was the eleventh ranking event of the 2013–14 season.
The 2014 Players Tour Championship Grand Final was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 25 and 29 March 2014 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. It was the tenth ranking event of the 2013/2014 season.
The 2014 Coral UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 25 November and 7 December 2014 at the Barbican Centre in York, England. It was the fifth ranking event of the 2014/2015 season.
The 2015 German Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 4–8 February 2015 at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany. It was the sixth ranking event of the 2014/2015 season.
The 2015 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff from 16 to 22 February 2015. The tournament was staged in Cardiff for the first time since 2004, having moved from Newport.
The 2015 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11 and 18 January 2015 at the Alexandra Palace in London, England. It was the 41st staging of the Masters tournament. Shaun Murphy won his first Masters title, beating Neil Robertson 10–2 in the final, the biggest winning margin in a Masters final since Steve Davis whitewashed Mike Hallett 9–0 in 1988. In winning the title, Murphy became the tenth player to win all Triple Crown events at least once. This year's final line up was a repeat of the 2012 tournament, albeit with a different result.
The 2016 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff from 15 to 21 February 2016. It was the sixth ranking event of the 2015/2016 season.
The 2018 Players Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 19 to 25 March 2018 in Llandudno, Wales. It was the eighteenth ranking event of the 2017/2018 season.
Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (147)
Ding Junhui (CHN)
