Chinanews, Beijing, Feb. 6 – A recent survey about snooker sport shows that there are now over 700 snooker rooms in Beijing with 50 million fans playing snooker. It might be said that with Ding Junhui’s victory, snooker game is becoming a popular sport in China, the Market News reported.

 

In a month, the long-awaited 2007 World Snooker China Open will be unveiled in Beijing. As one of the important stops for the 2007 World Snooker Main Tour, the China Open snooker tournament will attract 32 top-level world players, including Ding Junhui, Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Stephen Hendry, to compete in the tournament. The world’s top 16 snooker players will all be present at the China Open snooker tournament.

 

In 2005, when China organized the first world snooker open tournament, Ding Junhui beat all the rivals and became the final winner. With his victory, snooker soon became the most popular sport in China. In 2006, the second China Open snooker tournament was rated as the most widely-watched program in CCTV's sports channel. In addition, ticket sales of the tournament also hit a historical record, said Kang Wei, board of directors at the Beijing International Sports Events Co.，Ltd, organizer of the 2007 China Open snooker tournament.

 

Although this is the first time for the Beijing International Sports Events Co.，Ltd to host such a big international event, Kang is optimistic about the prospect of snooker in China. He predicts that eight years later, China Open snooker tournament will develop as one of the world’s top-level sports event and will also become one of the best events in China that is regulated with market orientation.