"He is
much cuter than me and I
can't wait to watch the
cartoon," said Ding,
referring to his image in
the cartoon with red-color
hair and robust figure in
additional to his super
power of playing snooker.
Ding said
he wanted to introduce
snooker to more Chinese
people, especially to the
children, through the
cartoon.
"But more
importantly, I hope the
children can learn the
importance of team spirit
and work hard to realize
their dreams as they enjoy
the cartoon," he said.
According
to Yu Menglai, chief
executive officer of the
Beijing-based D5 Studio
which is in charge of
producing the cartoon, they
have put Ding's own
experience, such as his
father leading him to the
world of snooker, in the
cartoon.
"The hero
Xiao Hui, who actually bears
Ding's given name, share the
same quality as his
prototype with strong will
and persistence," said Yu.
"Ding's
fans may discover another
side of their hero from the
cartoon -- shy but full of
inner power," he said.
Though
snooker might not be a
native Chinese sport, but
Ding's emergence has
elicited a huge interest in
the sport in China, where
World Snooker, the sport's
global governing body, says
that approximately 50
million of China's
population play snooker.
The
21-year-old from east
China's Jiangsu province,
who started playing snooker
at nine, is the youngest
player ever to win three
ranking titles -- the China
Open and UK Championships in
2005 and the Northern
Ireland Trophy in 2006.
However,
Ding, currently ranked the
11th in the world, is in the
midst of form slump, failing
to win a major title over
the past two years. Now, he
spends most of time abroad
for training and
competitions.
"Others
may call my current
situation a lowest point of
my professional snooker
career so far, but I think
I'm absorbing 'nutrition'
from the loss," said Ding.
"Actually,
I think I have improved both
on defense and attack
skills," he said. "Just like
Xiao Hui in the cartoon, I
will not give up so long as
I still want to become the
No.1. "
