The Pukka Pies United Kingdom Championship of snooker took place recently and it was Chinese snooker star Din Junhui who took home top honors. At the young age of twenty two, Ding was able to beat Scotsman John Higgins 10-8 in the final.

Although he is young, this is not the first time Ding has been crowned the UK champion. Back in 2005, Ding won the tournament as a teenager. Ding earned $162,300 for his win this year and 276 Pukka Pies. The winner of the competition earns their weight in pies and that is how many pies it takes to meet Ding’s weight.

With the win, Ding moves up to sixth in the provisional world rankings. Higgins is still number one, even though he lost to Ding. Ding had to pass Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals on Friday to make it to the finals. He won the match of course and spent the next day practicing and relaxing before the big match.

During the match both players managed to stay together. Ding got ahead of Higgins six times but Higgins always managed to get back level with Ding. When it reached 7-7 was the turning point. Ding took the lead 8-7 and a miss from Higgins would give Ding the momentum he needed to earn the win.



- 2009-12-17