东方之星——丁俊晖 The Oriental Star——Ding Junhui

文字难度：★★★

　　The ¹⁾Oriental Star——Ding Junhui 东方之星——丁俊晖

         When Ding Junhui——“The Oriental Star”took to ²⁾snooker, he never expected himself to be a world ³⁾champion, a ⁴⁾prodigious millionaire, a national ⁵⁾icon and a ⁶⁾phenomenon.
　　“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.
　　Born on April 1, 1987 in Yixing, a city 180 kilometres from Shanghai, snooker superstar Ding Junhui has ⁷⁾accomplished an impressive ⁸⁾string of victories since 2000.
　　With impressive victories in the China Open, the UK Championship and the Northern Ireland Open, the 19-year-old Chinese snooker ⁹⁾prodigy has become only the second player in history, the first one being Ronnie O’Sullivan, to ¹⁰⁾pull off such ¹¹⁾feats before the age of 20.
　　While many snooker fans may easily list the prizes Ding has won, few of them know that he first entered the field as a ¹²⁾wild card.
　　According to his father, Ding Wenjun, who also was a snooker player, he first ¹³⁾detected his son’s remarkable talent when Ding was just 8.
　　“When I was playing with my friends, he was attracted by the colorful balls and would play by himself on another table for a whole day,” said the father. “Then I decided to v¹⁴⁾cultivate his talent.”
　　In order to ensure that the boy always had a table on which to practice, Ding Wenjun gave up his business and opened a snooker club.
　　“That way I could reserve a table for my son at any time, and more people would come to play, which would help him practice.” said the father.
　　In order to further improve Ding Junhui’s skill, the senior Ding decided to bring the boy to Dongguan in Guangdong Province, where the national snooker team trains.
　　But their stay in Dongguan was to be full of hardships.
　　Both father and son lived in ¹⁵⁾cramped conditions, sharing a five-square-meter room ¹⁶⁾adjoining the local snooker club.
　　“It possessed no ¹⁷⁾decent beds, but just a board supported by some ¹⁸⁾abandoned ¹⁹⁾trestles,” recalled the father. “²⁰⁾Mosquitoes and ²¹⁾humidity made it hard to sleep in summer.”
　　Finally, they ran out of their savings as Ding Junhui took part in more and more competitions. His father had to work as a casual laborer.
　　“I made a long-distance call to my wife, asking her to sell our house. It was the family’s last possession.” said Ding Wenjun.
　　Ding usually spent eight to ten hours every day in the ²²⁾poolroom playing snooker alone. He said snooker occupied all his life.
　　“I sometimes got bored. I also wanted to stop and go out to ²³⁾frolic with other children, but I couldn’t. My parents had given up everything for me, so I had no other ²⁴⁾options but play snooker. I had to play.”

　　如今享有“东方之星”美名的丁俊晖当年迷上斯诺克台球的时候，绝对没想过自己有朝一日会登上世界冠军宝座，跻身名人富豪之列，成为国人的偶像，被誉为台球神童。
　　“对我来说，这并不算什么梦想成真，因为我开始打台球的时候并没有梦想过自己能成为这样。”
　　丁俊晖1987年4月1日出生在宜兴，一个距离上海180公里的城市。自2000年起，这位台球巨星征战赛场捷报频传。
　　在世界斯诺克台球中国公开赛、英国斯诺克锦标赛、北爱尔兰斯诺克公开赛上，丁俊晖接连夺冠，取得了引人注目的成绩。这位年仅19岁的台球奇才也由此成为了继罗尼·奥沙利文后，历史上第2位在20岁前取得如此不凡佳绩的球手。
　　说到丁俊晖赢取的奖项，许多台球迷们都能如数家珍般地列出来，但很少人知道一开始他只是作为一名外卡选手参加台球比赛。
　　他父亲丁文钧也曾经是一名台球手，在丁俊晖8岁时，他觉察到儿子在台球方面的惊人天赋。
　　“那时我跟朋友们打台球，那些五颜六色的台球可让他着迷了，他自个儿会在另一张球台上玩上一整天。”父亲说，“于是我决定发掘培养他的这种天赋。”
　　为了保证儿子总有球台练习球技，丁文钧放弃了原来的生意，开了一家台球室。
　　“那样我就可以随时为儿子预留球台，而且有更多的人过来打球也可以帮助他练习，”父亲说道。
　　为了进一步提高儿子的球技，丁文钧决定把他带到广东东莞，因为那里是国家台球队的集训地。
　　然而，他们在东莞的日子却历尽艰辛。
　　父子俩的居住环境非常狭窄，就挤在一个只有五平方米的小房间里，紧挨着当地一家台球俱乐部。
　　“房子里连张像样的床也没有，只是一块床板架在一些废旧支架上。”父亲回忆道，“夏天蚊子多，又潮湿，很难睡得着。”
　　随着丁俊晖参赛越来越多，他们的积蓄最后都花光了，父亲只好外出打些零工帮补。
　　“我给妻子打了通长途电话，让她卖掉我们的房子。那已经是我们家最后的财产了。”丁文钧说。
　　丁俊晖通常每天花8到10个小时在球室独自练球。他说，他的生活完全被台球占据了。
　　“我有时候会觉得闷，也想停下来，到外面跟其他小孩玩玩闹闹。不过我不能这样做。父母为我放弃了很多，我没有别的选择，只能专心打台球。我必须打台球。”

　　Their ²⁵⁾tremendous efforts finally paid off in April 2005, when Ding claimed the title of China Open champion as a wild-card ²⁶⁾entrant. He caused a ²⁷⁾sensation in December 2005 when he beat Nuggets Steve Davis to win the UK Open. Ding became the first ever player from outside the British Isles to win the UK Championship.
　　These two world titles made him a household name in China and ²⁸⁾sponsorship began ²⁹⁾pouring in.
　　“Ding Junhui is now a national icon and rated in recognition only behind NBA player Yao Ming and world ³⁰⁾hurdle record holder Liu Xiang,” said Fan Rongjian, vice president of Beijing Star Group, which is the leader of China’s snooker industry.
　　While the world cheered his success, Ding’s competitors also gave a ³¹⁾thumbs-up for this remarkable young man.
　　“It was only a matter of time before he joined the sport’s ³²⁾elite,” said Steve Davis, the six-time World Champion who was beaten 10-6 by Ding in the final of the UK Championship.
　　Even now, having reached the heights in world snooker, Ding practises as hard as ever——eight hours a day from 10 am to 6 pm, without a day off.
　　Ding Junhui said he felt lucky to have the chance to play against world-class opponents.
　　“They each have their own style. Only by dealing with each of them will I become fully prepared in any situation.” said the young man.
　　Ding said that being the only Chinese superstar in world snooker was lonely, at times.
　　“I hope there will be many more Chinese players in the future who perform well in the major ³³⁾tournaments, and I believe there will be.” he said.
　　As a matter of fact, Ding is ³⁴⁾mature for his age and looks very relaxed on the big stage. According to Ding Wenjun, the most remarkable feature of his son is that he keeps a cool head, an important characteristic for a snooker player.
　　“His cool-headedness and ³⁵⁾modesty help him to play ³⁶⁾steadily in every match.” said the father.
　　“Though he is 19 years old, indeed he is not grown-up. When back at home, he likes to play video games and adores teddy bears. He is still a child now making up for what he had lost in his childhood.” said his mother.
　　In his spare time, Ding likes to watch Jackie Chan movies and enjoys swimming.
　　“Both of them bring me total relaxation.” he said.

　　2005年4月，丁俊晖作为外卡选手参加世界斯诺克台球中国公开赛，赢得了冠军，一家人的巨大付出终于有了回报。2005年12月，他打败绰号“天然金块”的史蒂夫·戴维斯，赢得英国公开赛冠军，引起一番轰动，成为首位来自英伦群岛之外赢取英国斯诺克锦标赛的球手。
　　这两个世界冠军头衔让丁俊晖在中国变得家喻户晓，赞助商也随之纷至沓来。
　　“现在丁俊晖在国内是个大偶像了，知名度仅次于NBA球星姚明和跨栏世界纪录保持者刘翔。” 中国台球产业龙头老大——北京星牌集团副总裁范荣健说。
　　大家都在为丁俊晖的胜利欢呼，连他的对手也对这位了不起的年轻人竖起了大拇指。
　　“他跻身台球精英之列是迟早的事，” 史蒂夫·戴维斯如是说。曾经6次夺得世界台球冠军的他在斯诺克英国锦标赛决赛中被丁俊晖以10-6击败。
　　即使已经贵为世界顶尖选手，丁俊晖还是苦练如常—每天8小时，从早上10点到晚上6点，日复一日，从不间断。
　　能和世界级高手交手，丁俊晖说自己感到很幸运。
　　“他们都各有自己的风格。只有跟他们逐一切磋过，我才能完全有备而战，应付各种情况。”这位年轻人说道。
　　丁俊晖说自己作为世界台球圈中唯一一位中国巨星，有时也觉得孤独。
　　“我希望将来有更多中国台球手在大型巡回赛里有出色的表现，我相信一定会的。”他表示。
　　说实在的，丁俊晖要比同龄人成熟。在大赛上，他显得从容自如。父亲丁文钧说，儿子最突出的一点就是能保持头脑冷静，对于台球手而言，这是一个至关重要的特点。
　　“他的冷静和谦虚对他每次比赛的稳定发挥有很大帮助，”他父亲说。
　　“说是说19岁了，但其实他还没长大。在家里，他爱打游戏机，喜欢‘泰迪熊’。他还是个小孩，现在想把小时候错失的东西都给补回来。”他母亲说。
　　闲暇的时候，丁俊晖爱看成龙的电影，也喜欢游泳。
　　“两者都能让我彻底放松。”他说。