Ding:feel like not wanting to play

[gensdon]

afte the match, when askedby the media if ding felt it's a turning point after the respotted black,
ding replied, i should have lost long time ago.
when asked you cried in wembley, and now today, do you feel mentally unsettled always,
ding said, i feel like not wanting to play...

does anyone still think he has a chance of beating ronnie in sheffield? he has won all this last 48 matches this season, but effectively lost all last 16 matches apart from the UK...

[Maija]

do you feel mentally unsettled always,
ding said, i feel like not wanting to play...

Just a wee question: Not wanting to play a) that particular match, b) the rest of that particular match or c) at all?

I feel sorry for him, I do, but hopefully this will cut him some slack to develop at his own pace.

[austrian_girl]

Oh no... did he cry again today? Shame, the poor fella.

To be honest, if he doesn't feel like playing at the moment, then maybe he should take a break. Well, the summer break will be there soon anyway, so he'll have time to recover. It's a pity that there seems to be so much pressure on such a young guy... pressure he obviously can't deal with. I guess there is too much support in China when everyone expects him to win and too little in the UK for his liking. He needs some guidance there, I feel.

[gensdon]

that's all he said, feel like not wanting to play. i guess he meant the match and snooker in general... he didn't cry though.

[Maija]

that's all he said, feel like not wanting to play. i guess he meant the match and snooker in general...

Thanks. Well, like austrial_girl said - the summer break is soon on. Hope he gets some time to catch his breath and do whatever it might be that he feels he needs to!

It does remind me of an interview I stumbled over: ("Ding. From Zero to Hero." Xinhua. 18.09.06)

"I sometimes got bored. I also wanted to stop and go out to frolic with other children. But I couldn't. My parents had given up all for me, so I had no other options but play snooker. I had to play."

"If you ask him: what is your childhood? He can say nothing about it because he has no childhood. He gave all of it to snooker, maybe that is the price he should paid for success," his mother Chen Xijuan said.

"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."

[austrian_girl]

"If you ask him: what is your childhood? He can say nothing about it because he has no childhood. He gave all of it to snooker, maybe that is the price he should paid for success," his mother Chen Xijuan said.

I guess that's the fate of a lot of Chinese (and Russian) sportsmen. IMHO, the price is way too high.

[Skypigeon]

Ah well, I might sound harsh..but this is the reality he has to learn to cope with if he wants to stay on top of his game. If he can't, well then snooker might not be right for him, regadless of his tremendous talent. I'm pretty sure, however, that he will learn to distance himself emotionally. He's only 20, he has lots of years left at the baize.

[Valderie]

I guess that's the fate of a lot of Chinese (and Russian) sportsmen. IMHO, the price is way too high.

Shame, poor guy! I guess we forget just what restrictions they grow up under!

[Mitsuko]

The annoying thing is almost nothing has been said about Ebdon and Williams going out. They have won more and higher ranked players but have hardly recieved any media reports.

[missneworleans]

Well, he is so young...and he's physics is probably still forming

[dannyd0g]

Ding seems to be taking on some of the worst sides of Ronnie. Feeling like not wanting to play now, after apparently trying to concede early in the Masters.

He has had a very bad run recently. Questions are increasingly being asked about his temprament. I guess he will get over it. After all the sacrifices and hard work he has put in to develop his talent it would be a tragic waste if he was to mentally burn out so soon.

All this talk of Ding domination must be a hell of a lot for the kid to live up to. No wonder hes having a bad patch.

[belfast141]

Ding

He's turning out to be another Ronnie , when he is infront in a match and the balls are goin in he is the happiest man alive , but if things are goin bad he wants to pack it in ... Hendry/Davis wud never do anything like that when they started out & thats why they are the best players EVER , the way u react when you win or lose defines a great champion.

[gensdon]

there has been too much pressure on ding's shoulder, and he's very introvert, keeps all his feelings inside. no one has recieved that amount of attention in snooker. the media in china not only goes after ding for numerous questions, but all of the others pros for their oppinions about ding. this is only the case in china. as some of you probably can see, all of the headlines in the china open official webpage is about ding. i don't think jimmy gets the treatment here in england, or ronnie, or alex higgins. not only in snooker, ding is currently considered the most famous sportsman in china only after Yao Ming (the basketball player in the NBA) and Liu Xiang (the 110m Huddle olympic champion and world record holder). of course, they're both much older than ding, and have experienced the situation numerous times... basically, as ding's closest friend puts it, ding just doesn't know how to cope with the pressure of this kind yet (both from barry hawkins's tremedous break building and tactical play, and the outside expectation).

[LoopySnooker]

It does sound like a lot of pressure is put on Ding and at such a young age (and probably fairly sheltered growing up - all about snooker) its too much. Such a shame if he does feel like he doesn't want to play anymore - he may be fantastic at snooker but you have to enjoy what you do as well.

Agree that probably no other snooker player has had the attention and pressure that Ding has (particularly in China) - even with White/Hendry/Davis/Ronnie its mainly attention from people interested in snooker whereas sounds like the entire Country of China is focused on Ding.

Agree with some of the posts comparing him to Ronnie - hopefully, Ronnie is able to have a good talk with him as he's probably the best to know exactly what he's going through. I hope Ding has a good support network around him.

Would be a shame if snooker lost Ding - who if he can start to understand how to handle the pressure can only get better and better.

[gensdon]

i think he meant that he's mentally very tired in the match due to the pressure, and didn't feel like playing. i don't think he'll be bored with snooker in general just yet.

when asked what did you think of your play, ding answered "rubbish", when asked why, he said his "skill" isn't good enough.

what specific skill do you mean? ding replied: all the skills, and what you can think of now are all skills.

i am not too sure what he meant even in chinese, but i think he's frustrated with his snooker and himself, hence simply said he lost because he's not yet good enough.