When Ding Junhui took to snooker1, he never expected himself to be a world champion, a prodigious2 millionaire, a national icon3 and a phenomenon.
The 19-year-old Chinese wunderkind4 now has won three world titles—China Open, UK Open and Northern Ireland Open—becoming the only second player in history, the first one being Ronnie O'Sullivan, to pull off5 such feat6 before the age of 20.
“For me it's not a dream that comes true, as I never dreamed I could do that when I began to play snooker,” Ding said.
When Ding was 11 years old, he quit school to play snooker, which was against Chinese traditional value advocating7 that children should get good education for future development. Even his mother Chen Xijuan took much exception8 to his move.
“Junhui was an excellent and promising student at that time,” she said. “I thought it would put his future at stake9 to quit school for snooker. But his father thought otherwise. He said Junhui could go to university to get education after making his mark in snooker.”
His father's view prevailed and the couple spent more than what they had to finance Ding's career.
“We soon went bust10 as it took so much money to fund him,” Chen recalled. “We were in huge debts and life became increasingly hard. But we never gave up in supporting him as we were confident that he would one day succeed.”
Ding usually spent eight to ten hours every day in the poolroom playing snooker alone. He said snooker occupied all his life.
“I sometimes got bored. I also wanted to stop and go out to frolic11 with other children. But I couldn't. My parents had given up all for me, so I had no other options12 but play snooker. I had to play.”
Their tremendous efforts finally paid off in April, 2005 when Ding claimed the title of China Open. He caused a sensation13 last December when he beat Steve Davis to win the UK Open.
These two world titles made him a household name in China and sponsorship14 began pouring in.
“Ding Junhui is now a national icon and rated in recognition only behind NBA player Yao Ming and world hurdle record holder Liu Xiang,”said Fan Rongjian, vice president of Beijing Star Group which is the leader of China's snooker industry.
“After he won the UK Open, my company was swamped15 with calls asking how to make the next Ding Junhui,”Fan said.
Ding's success in the arena also saved China's withering16 snooker and billiards17 industry, according to Gan Lianfang, vice president of Chinese snooker and billiards association.
“The industry faced a meltdown18 in early 2000's as people became uninterested in billiards and snooker, and a lot of companies and clubs failed,” Gan said.
“But after Ding stamped his mark in snooker's international arena, he resurrected19 the industry almost single-handedly20. We call this as Phenomenon of Ding Junhui,”he said. Snooker and billiards clubs mushroomed21 throughout China thanks to Ding's success.
Ding is now No. 5 in world snooker rankings and is ready to reach the top spot, according to the insiders22.
“He is a fantastic player with surprising talents, he enjoys the play and is always learning. Definitely he will become No. 1,” said O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan's view was echoed23 by the chief editor of Snooker Scene, Clive Everton. “Ding has all what it takes to be World No. 1. I think he will reach that spot this year or next year,” he said.
But for Ding, it is not within his radar to be top ranked. “I never dreamed to become world No. 1, even now I don't imagine about it. I am a doer instead of thinker. What I should do is to improve my skills,” he said.
A clinical24 hitter in the arena, Ding acts like a child off it.
“If you ask him: what is your childhood? He can say nothing about it because he has no childhood. He gave all of it to snooker, maybe that is the price he should paid for success,” his mother Chen Xijuan said.
“Though he is 19 years old, indeed he is not grown-up. When back at home, he likes to play video games and adores25 teddy bears. He is still a child now making up for what he had lost in his childhood,” said Chen.
当丁俊晖开始打斯诺克的时候，他做梦也没有想到自己会成为世界冠军、百万富翁、全民偶像和一种现象。
这位春风得意的19岁少年现在已经获得了三个世界冠军：斯诺克中国公开赛冠军、全英公开赛冠军、北爱尔兰公开赛冠军，成为世界上第二个在20岁之前就获得如此辉煌成就的人，第一个是罗尼·奥沙利文。
“对我来说这不是梦想成真，因为我开始打斯诺克时，从来没有想到自己会走到这一步。”丁俊晖说。
丁俊晖11岁就辍学打斯诺克，而中国传统的价值观认为儿童应该接受良好教育，日后才能有所出息。丁俊晖的做法可谓逆主流而行，就连他妈妈陈习娟对此也颇有微词。
陈习娟说：“小晖当时学习成绩很好，我不愿意他放弃学业，这对他的前途不利。但他爸爸想法不同，他认为小晖可以先在台球上有所成就再上大学读书。”
他爸爸的想法占了上风，夫妻俩决定负债支持丁俊晖的台球事业。
陈习娟回忆道：“因为投入太大，我们很快就陷入困境。我们欠了大笔债务，日子越过越苦，但我们对他的支持从未动摇，我们相信他总有成功的一天。”
丁俊晖每天都要在球房一个人练8到10个小时，他说斯诺克占据了他全部的生活。
“我有时候也感到厌烦，想歇一会儿去和别的孩子玩耍，但我不能这么做，爸妈为我放弃了一切，我没有别的选择，只有继续练下去。”
巨大的努力终于换来回报。2005年4月，丁俊晖获得中国公开赛冠军；同年12月，他击败了斯蒂夫·戴维斯获得英国公开赛冠军，引起了轰动。
这两个冠军头衔使丁俊晖成了中国家喻户晓的人物，大批资助开始涌来。
“丁俊晖现在是全民偶像，知名度仅次于NBA球星姚明和跨栏世界记录保持者刘翔，” 中国台球产业龙头老大北京星牌集团副总裁范荣健说。
“他获得全英公开赛冠军后，我们公司电话不断，询问如何打造下一个丁俊晖。”范荣健说。
据中国台球协会副主席甘连舫介绍，丁俊晖的成功也拯救了中国面临困境的台球产业。 他说：“本世纪初，人们对台球失去了兴趣，很多公司和俱乐部都面临倒闭。”
“但当丁俊晖在国际台坛崭露头角之后，他几乎只身一人复兴了中国台球产业。我们称之为丁俊晖现象。”甘说。由于丁俊晖的成功，台球俱乐部在全国如雨后春笋般涌现出来。
目前，丁俊晖排名世界第五，根据权威人士的看法，他具备冲刺第一的能力。
“他是个极好的选手，具有惊人的才华，他享受比赛，也一直在进步。他绝对可以成为世界第一。” 奥沙利文这样说。
奥沙利文的观点得到了英国“Snooker Scene”杂志主编克里弗·埃弗顿的回应，他说：“丁具有世界第一台球高手应具有的所有品质，我认为他今年或者明年就会达到这一目标。”
但对丁俊晖而言，成为世界第一不在他考虑的范围。他说：“我从没想过要当世界第一，甚至现在我也没想过，我是个行动者，不是思想者，我要做的是提高我的技术。”
在球场内，丁俊晖是冷峻的杀手；在球场外，他像个孩子。
“你问他有童年吗？他什么都说不出来。他没有童年，他把童年都送给了台球，也许这是成功应该付出的代价。”他妈妈说。
“虽然他19岁了，但的确还没长大。回到家里，他爱打游戏，喜欢泰迪熊。他依然是个孩子，正在弥补失去的童年。”丁母说。
1. snooker n. 斯诺克，台球（用15个红球和6个各种颜色的球玩的一种落袋撞球游戏）
2. prodigious adj. 巨大的
3. icon n. 偶像
4. wunderkind n. （德语） 神童, 少年得志者,有巨大成就的青年人
5. pull off 实现
6. feat n. 功绩
7. advocate v. 提倡、支持
8. exception n. 反对
9. at stake 在危急之中；成问题
10. go bust 陷入财经困境
11. frolic v. 嬉戏、嬉闹
12. option n. 选择
13. sensation n. 轰动
14. sponsorship n. 赞助
15. swamp v. 淹没
16. withering adj. 正在枯萎的
17. billiards n. 台球
18. meltdown n. 彻底崩溃
19. resurrect v. 复兴
20. single-handedly 单独一人
21. mushroom v. 迅速生长
22. insider n. 权威人士
23. echo v. 附和
24. clinical adj. 冷静的，严峻的
25. adore v. 喜爱
26. cue ball 母球
27. incidentally adv. 顺便说一下
28. spin-off 派生物
29. stance n. 地位
30. cushion n. 软垫
31. rail [reil] n. 围栏
32. slaughter v. 屠宰