MIXED FORTUNES FOR MAXIMUM MAN DING

Ding Junhui arrived in Cardiff out of form, but sporting a new bright red waistcoat. When it came to trying to engineer a change of fortunes, it looked like it was down to a straight choice between this and entering the arena with a lucky cat for the 11-time ranking event winner from China.

The 28-year-old Ding joined the huge Chinese community around the world in celebrating the nation’s New Year earlier in February, with 2016 marking the Year of the Monkey. And one tradition widely observed for the bringing of good luck is the wearing of red clothes. It got him to the quarter-final, but evidently it takes more than a sartorial tweak to stop a rampant Neil Robertson. Ding’s snazzy garment might have been the secret weapon behind a sixth career 147 maximum break in frame six, but it could not halt the Australian’s charge.

CARDIFF'S CHINESE STUDENTS LAP UP DING PRICES

Cardiff boasts a huge student population of many tens of thousands, and a good percentage of those are from China. The arrival of Ding Junhui in the city was quickly picked up on by Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo, and widely trailed and promoted in advance. The result was a strong turnout of extra fans supporting the 28-year-old at the Motorpoint Arena.

Some of those that pitched up were devoted snooker fans, and had either attended or would have liked to have attended tournaments in their home country. But as so often before, the issue of ticket prices for events in China reared its head. These fans reckoned they would have had to pay £50 or more for certain matches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu or Daqing, and so by comparison the bargain £8 many paid in Cardiff represented excellent value. Some said it was cheaper to fork out a return train fare from Manchester and buy a ticket than it would have been to see Ding back home, where they rated him as one of the top five sportsmen.

Ding did his ambassadorial bit to make it a truly special occasion for his supporters, hanging around after matches to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

BINGHAM MATCH IS JUST THE TICKET

Stuart Bingham usually has a decent following in London for the Dafabet Masters – and a first world title last May did not exactly dampen demand among friends and family for the man from Basildon.

The world No2 estimated that he had to get hold of “around 60-70” tickets for his Sunday night first-round match against Ding Junhui, giving him a very solid support base in the Alexandra Palace arena.

Players receive 10 complimentary tickets at the Masters but are also afforded the right to buy additional ones at a discounted rate, an option the 39-year-old Bingham had to exercise, keeping him very busy in the build-up.

Extra seats have been installed this year bringing the capacity to just below 2,000, a figure that looks certain to set a record for the venue for Ronnie O’Sullivan’s already virtually sold-out clash with Mark Williams on Tuesday.

DING HAS TO SHARE TOP BILLING

Ding Junhui celebrated his 28th birthday at the China Open, for which he was again presented with a cake by the media, and also delighted the crowd with his dramatic quarter-final victory over John Higgins.

But the home hero had to share the Beijing sporting honours on the Friday evening of his thrilling win over the Scot. The Beijing Guoan v Shanghai Shenhua derby football match earlier in the evening was variously described as like “Barcelona v Real Madrid” or “Liverpool v Manchester United” by locals.

It was pretty clear in the stadium there was no love lost between the players or fans in a bitter rivalry, but goals from Darko Matic and Erton Fejzullahu settled matters in favour of Beijing to send the team top of the Super League and get the weekend off to a flier out in the bars and clubs.

There was also a half-time presentation of a green Guoan shirt to Stephon Marbury, as big a sports hero as there is in Beijing having just led the Ducks to a third CBA title in four years in the basketball-mad city.

Point guard Marbury is a former NBA All-Star who played for the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns - but has now been in Beijing for four years.

TRUMP'S TURN TO BE LEFT IN THE SHADE

It was a rare case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’ for Judd Trump on Wednesday night at the China Open after his 5-1 win over Peter Ebdon.

The 25-year-old Trump, also the title favourite and tour man in form, is usually mobbed in Beijing along with other Chinese cities, and the subject of the most intense media scrutiny and interest.

But three of the last-32 games finished at roughly the same time, and there was a prolonged circus while home hero Ding Junhui not only addressed a packed and frenzied media centre with standing room only, but was presented with a birthday cake having beaten Mark Davis 5-1 on the day he turned 28.

John Higgins, who hasn’t exactly been begging to speak to the written press of late anyway, was spared those duties after a 5-2 win over Graeme Dott, being interviewed only by a CCTV crew.

And Trump emerged into the room with the cake still being cleared away and virtually the entire room of journalists disappearing back to their desks to get filing Ding copy before deadlines.

With the few remaining hacks though, Trump did a professional job of assessing his victory over Ebdon and last-16 clash with Higgins before leaving the Chinese media to get back to lauding their hero.

BIRDS NEST OLYMPIC STADIUM HOSTS OPENING BASH

The opening ceremony on the Sunday before play got under way at the China Open took place in the grand surroundings of the Birds Nest, the iconic stadium for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Players all climbed aboard a coach for the short trip from the hotel, and many grabbed the chance for some pictures of the arena and track where Usain Bolt shot to prominence with an astonishing three gold medals and three world records seven years ago in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay with Jamaica.

Shaun Murphy and Jason Ferguson did their bit with some trackside interviews with Rob Walker, bigging up snooker’s bid to try and join the Olympics party at some point in the future (Murphy's Bolt impression could yet go viral), and the red carpet procession saw the 64 players (less one or two absentees) led through a hall containing a galaxy of silver statues on the arm of a Beijing belle before the formal speeches.

And defending champion Ding Junhui, pictured with leading Chinese woman player Shi Chun Xia in the parade, created the fashion waves in a natty three-piece check green suit.

Walker, a well-known figure on the snooker circuit with his presenting and MC work, also has many media commitments in his other passion of athletics, and took the opportunity to drop in at the Beijing event n for a couple of days on his way home from Guiyang and the World Cross Country Championships.

Photograph courtesy of top147