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Ding Junhui (Chinese: 丁俊晖) (born 4 March 1987) is a Chinese snooker player, born near Shanghai and now resident in England.
Junhui started playing snooker at the age of 9 when he joined his father and his friends while he was bored. He practices the game 8 hours every day and in 2003 he became the no. 1-ranked player in China.
Junhui shot to international prominence in 2002, when he won the Asian under-21 championship, the Asian Championship, and the IBSF World under-21 championship. He was unable to progress much in 2003 as both the Asian Championship and under-21 Championship had to be cancelled because of the SARS virus crisis, but he was a semi-finalist in the IBSF World under-21 championship and was awarded a Main Tour concession by the World Snooker Association which enabled him to turn professional in September 2003.
In February 2004 Junhui was awarded a wildcard entry to the Masters championship in London, where in the first round he defeated the world no. 16-ranked player, Joe Perry, before narrowly losing in the second round to Stephen Lee. His performance favourably impressed many commentators who have rated him a likely future World Champion.
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