'Ding looks destined to be world No 1'

Teenage star Ding Junhui is on track to becoming the best snooker player in the world.

Just ask Steve Davis.

"He obviously has the talent to be world No 1 and I am sure he can do it in the very near future," said Davis, who has won 28 titles in roughly as many years.

Despite Ding's loss to Barry Hawkins on Wednesday, Davis believes he has the potential to beat Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest World Championships winner at 21.

China's Ding Junhui reacts during the 2007 World Snooker China Open in the first round game against Barry Hawkins March 28 in Beijing. [Xinhua]

"He's no doubt on course to become a world champion and he's got a realistic chance of being the youngest ever," he said.

"I think he's the first young player since Ronnie O'Sullivan to really look like he could take the game by storm."

Ding moved up to No 24 in the world rankings after capturing the 2005 China Open, the Northern Ireland Trophy and the UK Championships, the sport's second-biggest tournament.

Only O'Sullivan and Ding have bagged three such weighty titles before their 20th birthdays.

The 19-year-old Chinese player beat O'Sullivan 9-6 to clinch the Northern Ireland Trophy and stamp his dominance on the sport.

Not one to be swatted aside so easily, O'Sullivan got his revenge with a 10-3 win at the Snooker British Masters early this year.

Davis said it was only a matter of time before Ding joins the snooker elite. "I'm very certain he will be a top-five player fairly soon," said Davis. "There are a number of people who can pot balls perfectly but his level of maturity marks him out as something special.

"It will be very interesting to see how he gets on next season."

O'Sullivan joined in the praise.

"I have ranked Ding Junhui as my No 1 rival", said the 31-year-old from England.

Reacting to the sudden glorification of Ding, Davis cautioned against blowing him up as the saviour of a British sport that looks set to expand overseas.

"It's quite a tough environment for him, everybody wants him to win," he said. "So he needs a stronger heart. To focus on the table in such an environment is not easy."

British officials are targeting Ding as the man who can sell the sport to China's 1.3 billion people.

"We've been trying to expand the sport and we have seen great progress but it doesn't happen overnight," Davis said. "We will need some more time to get more Chinese players involved."

"I'm sure we need some more time before seeing great players from China who will come over to play in the UK."

The reverse, of course, is already happening.

In yesterday's China Open action, O'Sullivan remained on course by rallying to beat Ali Carter.

He won the last three frames against his practice partner to clinch it 5-4 and set up a quarter-final tie with Hong Kong's Marco Fu, who beat World Championships winner Matthew Stevens 5-3.

Carter was disappointed not to advance to the last eight after failing to convert several match-winning chances.

"I was lucky," admitted world No 3 O'Sullivan. "I expected Ali to win with the chances he had. He should have put me away.

"The last frame is always the hardest to win and the more chances he missed, the more tense he became and the more confident I got. I wasn't playing well. I haven't slept for 24 hours and I felt tired."

It started brightly for the 31-year-old when he sealed the first frame with a break of 53. Carter rode through a scrappy second, edged in front with 100 and added the next to go 3-1.

Carter then rolled in a 92 to make it 4-2. He could have closed it out in the next frame but missed the final green to hand O'Sullivan just the break he needed. A 53 clearance saw O'Sullivan claw back from 42-13. When Carter failed to send a red into the center pocket, it was game over