“Ding Junhui has been a blessing to my business,” says Zhu Yinchuan, the general manager of Yunchuan Billiards Club. Zhu ran a small billiards club in Beijing early in 2005. “The club was often quiet back then, but once Ding became a champion, business got better and better. At peak times, you had to wait on line for a table,” says Zhu. Seizing the day, Zhu has expanded his business at the rate of two or three clubs a year, achieving payback within two years. Now he owns 21 clubs. Statistics from the General Administration of Sport show just 600 billiards clubs operating in Shanghai in 2005, a number that today has soared to around 1,100, and the pattern is being repeated in other big cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou.

Like Bees to Honey

It is not just entrepreneurs such as Zhu Yinchuan who have an eye on this huge market: international snooker organizations and players alike sniff gold in China.

The China Open and Roewe Shanghai Masters attract élite players from all over the world. “The tournaments need these top players. Likewise, these superstars need China too,” says Wang Tao. “They are aware that there is a huge market here, with top-level matches and considerable business opportunities too. That’s why these sports celebrities often come to China with their agents.”

Most of the world’s top-16 snooker players have been invited to be the ”voice” of Chinese businesses. Snooker stars with a high recognition rating in China – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby for example – can earn around RMB one million during the course of a contest such as the China Open. “I hope China will hold more world-level tournaments. If so, I’d think about settling down here and learning to speak Chinese,” Selby once told the media.

The high ticket prices and the cost of travel to the venue cities is no deterrent for avid fans keen to watch first-class tournaments and players. Tickets for the China Open and Shanghai Masters always fall short of demand, and hot tickets for bouts featuring superstars are quickly sold out. Although some tickets cost RMB 800 or more, venues always exceed 90 percent capacity.

Statistics show that the TV audience ratings for the China Open over the last three years have topped those of any televised sports program in the same period. Most snooker lovers cheer for their favorite sons. The 2005 China Open final between Ding Junhui and Stephen Hendry was watched by 110 million viewers.

“Snooker contests are faring better and better in China. Now every match fetches in 1,000 viewers or so, indicating the health of the sport’s market,” Wang Tao says. The General Administration of Sport is considering hosting more international events in China, and even the World Snooker Championship. Such events require huge inputs, the prize money alone being £ 1.05 million. Mr. Wang admits his administration won’t be putting this idea on the agenda any time soon.

Meanwhile, a group of top players from China is the real promise for Chinese snooker. Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and Marco Fu are three of the only four non-British players in the world’s current top 32, and the emerging generation represented by Xiao Guodong, Liu Chuang and Jin Long underline that promise.

Commercial Sponsorship on Cue

Chinese snooker fervor may have to do with the robust support of commercial sponsors. Sponsorship funding for events held in Britain has declined, but support for the China Open and Shanghai Masters remains stable.