Ding Junhui reveals battle with himself: ‘Sometimes my brain flies out!’

Ding Junhui has been one of the finest snooker players on the planet since he burst onto the scene 20 years ago, with his own brain as tough an opponent as anyone he faces on the table.

The Chinese superstar turned 38 this week, two decades on from his incredible breakthrough in winning the 2005 China Open, beating Stephen Hendry in the final.

In a remarkable battle of generations, his next trophy was the 2005 UK Championship, downing Steve Davis in the final and he has now taken his tally to 15 ranking titles with the International Championship this season.

Given how prolific he was over a decade ago – winning five ranking titles in the 2013/14 season – it is a little surprising he does not have more wins on his CV.

The difficulties of being a player from overseas on a predominantly British-based tour does not help, nor did the pandemic, while Ding also feels like he has to fight himself on a regular basis.

Capable of unstoppable snooker, Ding is also liable to let his mind wander and look almost disinterested during some matches.

At the recent World Grand Prix and Players Championship this seemed to be the case, as he suffered first round defeats to Xu Si and Mark Williams.

He started the Tour Championship this week in similar style, looking very poor over the first four frames with Williams again, this time in Manchester.

Then everything changed. He won seven frames on the spin with two tons and five half-centuries to beat the Welsh legend 10-3, then was excellent again to down world champion Kyren Wilson 10-5.

So what happened?

‘In the last tournament and the one before I was struggling,’ Ding said after beating Wilson. ‘Actually I didn’t feel bad, I just played some weird snooker.

‘Like this first match against Mark Williams in the first four frames, I felt like I was 10 years of age. I didn’t know what I was doing.

‘I just need to keep concentration each shot and because it’s a long game, I think I can’t do this all the time, so I tried and it’s getting better.

‘Sometimes I find it hard to concentrate. In the last two tournaments and the first four frames before the interval I played some weird shots that I’ve never seen!

‘It’s all about playing snooker on the table when I get chances, how to get the ball moving better, how to make it easier to clear up, to make scoring, to put pressure on my opponent. This is how to do it on the table. But sometimes for no reason my brain flies out!’

The battle for focus also leads to Ding becoming frustrated with himself as he doesn’t find his top level as much as he would like.

Trying to concentrate but also learning to accept that he can’t remain at his peak constantly is all part of the challenge and one he says you have to win to remain sane.

‘Sometimes you can’t keep your best form every match so you have to keep calm, play some scrappy shots and good shots in between,’ he said. ‘You need to learn how to make a balance of that. If not you go mad!

‘Sometimes I blame myself too much about not playing well. I want to play well and feel good, I get very disappointed sometimes.’

The former world number one is also fighting against himself on technique, having developed a little pause as he pushes the cue through at times.

Asked about the strange addition to his cue action, he said: ‘I don’t want to do that. The arm doesn’t listen.

‘In practice I try hard to not do that. When I’m playing I’m concentrating on taking the shot and my arm has forgot!

‘I try hard to do it in one hit. It’s a strange feeling. I don’t want to do it.’

Ding has been getting past his mental and technical struggles impressively over the last two games and next up is another enormous challenge in the form of Mark Selby.

The pair meet in the Tour Championship semi-finals over two sessions in Manchester on Saturday, with the winner taking on John Higgins in Sunday’s final.

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