China is justifiably proud of Liang Wenbo. Yesterday, twenty-one year old Liang - widely tipped as a potential future world champion - became the first Chinese player to reach the quarter finals of the World Snooker Championships, after defeating Northern Ireland's Joe Swail 13-12 in the second round in Sheffield. This followed a victory over former world champion Ken Doherty in the first round.
Pictures of Liang - who hails from Heilongjiang province - and other
players in the world championships are carefully framed in the Chinese
media, however. Each player is contractually obliged to wear the logo
of the tournament sponsor on their waistcoat. It just happens that this
year's sponsor is 888.com, a gambling website which, because of the
mainland's ban on gambling, is blocked in China. No mention of the
tournament sponsor is made in local press reports.
Liang is currently playing tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan in
the quarter finals. The first session of the match finished level and
4-4.
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