Wu Shengguang practices billiards under the guidance of a professional coach (file photo). After becoming a world-class snooker player through the "Ding Junhui model," Ding Junhui (Weibo) became an idol for many young people. In Taiyuan, Shanxi, a 13-year-old boy named Wu Shengguang has voluntarily given up his studies and dreams of becoming a top snooker player like Ding Junhui. In fact, due to the continuous rise in popularity of snooker domestically, there are more children with this dream, not just Wu Shengguang. This phenomenon obviously deserves consideration: under the current circumstances, is it only possible to become an outstanding billiard player by following Ding Junhui's footsteps? Must playing billiards and academics be mutually exclusive?
Wu Shengguang comes from an ordinary family. At the age of 10, he was already competing against adults on the streets with his skills. At 12, he began professional snooker training. After finishing primary school, Wu Shengguang voluntarily chose to abandon his studies and followed a professional coach to focus on snooker training. In April 2011, Wu Shengguang participated in the National Youth Snooker Series for the first time and placed third in the junior group at the Xi'an branch competition. Interestingly, the venue for this competition was the Xi'an Ding Junhui Billiards Club.
Is another "Chinese Ding"-style billiards star rising? In fact, it’s not that simple. According to media reports, in recent years, due to the rapid development of billiards in China, more and more young people have been engaged in this sport, and "billiards prodigies" frequently appear in the media. Many of them are replicating the "Ding Junhui model." "In fact, now famous domestic billiards coaches such as Pang Weiguo, Cai Jiadong, and Wu Wenzhong each have four or five to over ten young players under their tutelage. The younger ones are only eight or nine years old, and the older ones are no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. None of them go to school; they all focus on training. Their goal is to become professional players," Ding Junhui's agent Zhang Meng told reporters.
Including Wu Shengguang, so many children dreaming of becoming professional players sufficiently prove how popular billiards are in China. However, it is worth discussing whether it is appropriate for a child to completely abandon their studies and take such a risky path towards sports professionalism. Moreover, unlike Ding Junhui who passively gave up his studies due to his father, these children now are mostly voluntarily giving up their studies.
When interviewed by the media, Wu Shengguang's parents expressed, "This is the child's choice, and we will fully support him," but also admitted that before making the decision, they underwent a long period of mental struggle.
Youth education expert Lu Qin firmly stood on the opposing side: "Completely abandoning studies to practice billiards is a risky move. Ding Junhui is an exception, not everyone can reach his level. What about those children who do not achieve results? If a child cannot make it and does not study, then it truly wastes time. A child needs a complete personality and mindset in the future, both of which cannot be separated from learning."
This is exactly what people are worried about. After gaining fame, Ding Junhui once went through a low period. During this time, some of Ding Junhui's shortcomings were magnified, especially issues related to character and interpersonal relationships, and these problems are often linked to his experience of abandoning his studies during his growth. "I believe that if he could start over, he would not make such a choice. The reason Ding Junhui chose to attend Jiaotong University was to enrich his life experiences. Now, Xiaohui himself is also working very hard and reads a lot of books," Zhang Meng said.
However, Zhang Meng also stated that since billiards is a non-Olympic event, its status in the Chinese sports world is currently not high, so the "Ding Junhui model" appears even more effective. "Currently, the cultivation of billiards talent is basically completed by the private sector. To become a professional player in the future, one must undergo full-time training, which is the fastest way to improve skill levels. Practicing only one or two hours a day will result in very slow improvement, making it difficult to become a professional player. Billiards is not like Olympic events, which have a system for cultivating talent, so more risks have to be borne by the parents."
An increasing number of children who love billiards choose to give up their studies, causing social concern. The cultivation of China's billiards talent urgently needs a win-win solution.
"We do not hope that children abandon their studies and devote all their energy to billiards training," Wang Tao, director of the Second Department of the Small Ball Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport, said in an interview with reporters. "To prevent this phenomenon from happening, we have decided that participants in next year's youth competitions must provide corresponding academic records. Additionally, the center will increase the construction of billiards schools. Currently, Beijing and Shanghai have already established billiards schools, and some schools in Wuxi have also set up billiards majors. I hope that within five years, billiards schools will become more widespread, thus allowing children to neither delay their studies nor miss out on improving their professional athletic skills."
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 9th.