Ding Junhui | Bio, Age, Career, Height, Spouse, Kids, Net Worth, Ranking

Ding Junhui is a Professional snooker player holding Chinese nationality. He is the most prosperous Asian athlete in the annals of the game.

Over his career, he has earned 14 significant ranking victories, including three UK Championships.

He became the first Asian player to advance that far in the World Championship in 2016.

Who is Ding Junhui? Childhood, Parents, Education, and Nationality

His mother, Ding Wenjun, and father, Chen Xijuan, gave birth to Ding Junhui.

Junhui’s father, a snooker fanatic, introduced him to the sport when he was just eight years old. Ding’s father used to accompany him to the neighborhood pool club so that he could practice and compete against a pro.

Ding’s father took him to see the Shanghai Chinese national snooker squad when he was nine years old. His father convinced his mother to quit their supermarket and home business since they were not economically stable.

Ding placed his official schooling on hold to concentrate on snooker after starting his snooker career. The family then relocated to Dongguan, in Guangdong.

He used to train for eight hours a day when he was 11 years old.

When it came time for him to play in the major leagues, all of his hard work finally paid off. Ding became one of the finest players in China by the age of 15 after winning local and national contests.

Likewise, Ding Junhui holds Chinese nationality.

How did Ding Junhui start his Career?

He competed in the Asian Championship and Asian Under-21 Championship in 2002, when he was only 15 years old. The same year, he also triumphed in the IBSF World U-21 Championship.

He started his professional snooker career a year later, in 2003. But he didn’t win his first professional snooker championship until 2005.

In addition, Ding Junhui won both the UK Championship and the China Open in 2005. Not many individuals would take pride in winning a UK Championship at the age of 18.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, who won the UK Championship when he was 17 years old, held the record; Ding was just one year away from breaking it.

Ding Junhui in in his zone. Source: Google

Additionally, in 2006, he also took home the Northern Ireland Trophy, bringing his total number of victories to three.

After lifting the Northern Irish Trophy in 2006, Ding Junhui had a blast, but in 2007, he played Ronnie O’Sullivan, and it was the end of his winning streak.

Ding competed against Ronnie The Magician in the 2007 Masters finals. Due to Ronnie’s 10-3 victory, Ding suffered a heartbreaking defeat.

After the 2007 Masters Loss

The hero of the east, though, was undeterred and kept playing. Over the course of his career, he has won 14 major championships. The 2019 UK Championship was his most recent ranking victory.

Being the first Asian player to do so, Ding competed against Mark Selby in the 2016 World Championship finals; however, he was defeated by Mark.

Ding is also recognized for this break; he has earned over 400 century breaks and a total of 6 of the highest possible breaks (147).

He was the world’s best snooker player from December 2014 to February 2015, according to rankings. Additionally, he is the first Asian to hold the top spot in history.

2007/2008/2009 season

In his birthplace of Yixing, China, Junhui won the national championship that year.

Ding made his maiden maximum smash (147) when competing against Anthony Hamilton at the 2007 Masters. The tournament had its first maximum break since 1984 with this one as well.

Even though he won the opening two frames, things got worse. Ronnie dominated the contest and triumphed against Ding.

The game was a best-of-19-frames contest, but Ding thought it was a best-of-17 contest and gave up in the 12th set with an 8-3 score.

His following two ranking competitions saw him lose in the opening round after his defeat to the Master. In round one of the Malta Cup versus Stephen Maguire, the Chinese-born loser was defeated.

In the first round of the Welsh Open, he suffered a similar defeat to Jamie Cope.

After all those defeats, he began the 2008–2009 season strong by defeating Mark Selby in the Jiangsu Classic by a score of 6–5.

World Championship

2015 and 2016 season

Ding experienced a string of losses before competing in the world championship competition. At the Shangai Masters, Kyren Wilson defeated him in the quarterfinals.

A similar thing happened when he lost to amateur player Adam Duffy and was eliminated from the 2015 International Championships in the second round.

He also ended up losing the 2015 UK Championships to Adam Duffy in the opening round.

Neil Robertson defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2016 BetVictor Welsh Open.

He also advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 World Grand Prix but fell to Shaun Murphy.

Additionally, he lost to Lee Walker and didn’t make the cut for the 2016 Chinese Open.

World Championship Finalist

After two seasons without a championship, he had to prepare for the World Championships. Ding achieved this by winning three straight games while dropping only seven frames.

During the three wins in a row, he also scored a 400th-century break.

Ding Junhui with his trophy. Source: Google

Ding overcame Mark Williams throughout the quarterfinals and McManus in the semifinals after defeating Martin Gould and Judd Trump in the first and second rounds, respectively.

He made seven-century breaks during the semifinal match against Alan, which is a World Championship record; however, he shares the honor with Stephen Hendry and also Judd Trump.

Ding was the very first Asian player to go to the World Championships finals before losing to Mark Selby, shattering multiple records in the process.

He also made 15-century breaks throughout the whole 2016 World Championship, only one short of Stephen Hendry’s record.

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How old is Ding Junhui? Height, Weight, and Body Measurement

Ding Junhui is presently 35 years old. Likewise, Ding Junhui stands at a height of 5 feet 7 inches (176 cm). He has black hair and monolid black eyes with a fair complexion.

Unfortunately, The information about Ding Junhui’s weight and body measurement is still unclear.

Is Ding Junhui Single? Spouse, and Children

Outside of his professional snooker career, Ding Junhui is a very private person. He keeps a lot of things to himself. However, he just traveled to China with his daughter and wife to attend an event.

The cuteness of his kid won over everyone. Everyone complimented her cuteness and the attractiveness of Ding and Apple Zhang, his wife.

Ding Junhui with his wife and daughter. Source: Google

The first kid or daughter of the pair was born on August 8, 2018. Due to his commitments to matches, Ding must spend most of his time away from his family.

He frequently expressed how much he missed his wife and his young son.

In 2014, Apple and Ding were married. He hasn’t revealed anything more about his family other than that.

How much does Ding Junhui earn? Net Worth, and Salary

Including all the significant events he has won, Ding Junhui has earned about $5 million. His entire net worth is thought to be approximately $10 million, according to our analysts.

He makes a sizable sum of money from minor league play in addition to his substantial tournament earnings, and let’s not forget that he is the top player in Chinese snooker. Although he has dedicated his entire life to snooker, he is hardly a simpleton.

He has invested his earnings and made some wise decisions to provide for his family’s future.