Acording to a BBC report, as Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui reached the final of the World Championship, the number of TV viewers in China rose to 210 million across the 17 days of the event. Ding, the first Asian player to reach the final, was beaten 18-14 by World Number One Mark Selby.

The afternoon sessions of the final were reportedly watched by more than 45 million in China, a record-breaking number for post-prime time programmes this year. The total audience for the tournament was more than 300 million worldwide.

"Over the next 10-15 years, China will dominate most sports. The government are pouring money in," said World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn in April.

"Do I want to see the top 16 players all Chinese players? Do you want to see a draw between all Chinese players? The system is there, if they are good enough, to do exactly that." Hearn added.

Source: BBC

Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin.