China’s World Cup Win Seals A Famous Hat-Trick

China’s World Cup Win Seals A Famous Hat-Trick
16:04, 10 Jul 2017

China’s ambition to dominate snooker may be a process of evolution rather than revolution, but their stranglehold over the World Cup format certainly shows that they remain on the right track.

Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo staged a thrilling comeback to beat England in Sunday’s final in Wuxi and with it secured a hat-trick of titles for the Far East nation who have an unrivalled passion for the game.

Scratch beneath the surface of this win and you’ll see an unstoppable desire to succeed from a nation and its players, which is surely proving a recipe for success in this format of the game. Winning a national title is an honour for any player in any sport but, for Chinese snooker players, you sense it takes on even greater importance. It is almost as if it symbolises something much more meaningful and in addition to the trophy it provides an indication of the progress the nation is making to become the leaders of the sport.

This is the kind of added motivation which enables them to dig deep during the pivotal moments and make it stick.

For China, this was no ordinary win. Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins looked to be coasting to victory as they established a 3-1 lead, but three frames on the spin including a tense doubles match-up in frame six and a gutsy clearance in the decider from Ding rounded off a memorable 4-3 triumph.

This title follows on from Yan Bingato and Zhou Yuelong’s historic title for China B in 2015 and another victory in 2011 for Ding and Liang.

China can sit back and enjoy all the accolades that come with being crowned World Champions, but it wasn’t always plain sailing, especially when you consider that Ding and Liang were rarely tipped as the likeliest winners of the tournament once it was under way. For lengthy spells, they failed to hit top form and were cast into the shadows of more dominant displays by England and Wales who were the stand-out performers throughout the group stages.

In fact, this China A pairing came to within a single frame of being eliminated from the group. Ding had to deliver an excellent match-winning break against Hong Kong to secure their passage to the knockout phase and he needed a similar effort under pressure in the final too.

This ability to produce the goods when it matters most is an area of Ding’s game that has come on leaps and bounds over the past two years – and as a result he looks to be coming closer and closer to getting his hands on an elusive first world title.

Ding has always carried the hopes of a nation. He remains the flag bearer for Chinese snooker and now that he looks to believe in himself more than ever before, you would be surprised if at least some of this didn’t transfer onto the nation as a whole. A dramatic win here in Wuxi is evidence of this already.

People can be quick to dismiss China’s presence in the game and whether as a country they will ever achieve baize domination. It’s not happened overnight, but so long as they continue to dream big this process of evolution will continue to go from strength to strength.

This win is rich reward for a nation that demonstrates true love for the game. When the next World Cup kicks off two years from now, the chasing pack will need to seriously raise its performance levels.

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