"Trailblazer" Ding Junhui has been hailed as the decisive factor in the success of the recent China Open and the sport's new-found respect in the country.

Although always popular, snooker was long considered an underground sport in China, with associations to streetside gambling and drinking.

However, the sport has entered the mainstream over the past five years thanks to vastly increased interest from the media - with Ding's success the key.

"Ding has helped lift the sport from the back alleys to the mainstream," says Wang Liwei, deputy director of the sport's governing body in China.

"It's simply terrific. Nobody could imagine that one day the Chinese people would opt for a snooker match on TV, and parents would allow their children to learn the tricks and trades of the sport, instead of making them sweat it out in ping pong, volleyball or other traditional games."

Ding arrived on the world stage in 2005 when 110 million Chinese watched on TV as he beat Stephen Hendry to make the China Open his first ranking tournament. He went on to add the UK Championship in the same year, catapulting Ding to the sort of stardom only NBA center Yao Ming and Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang can compete with.

"Ding deserves his popularity as much as Yao and Liu because he has elevated snooker to new heights in China," says China's snooker director Zhang Xiaodong. "His contribution is perhaps greater (than Yao's and Liu's) because snooker used to be a street sport till a few years ago.

"Ding has opened the window to the world of snooker. Chinese players today know what is happening outside, and that's very important.

"He's a trailblazer. He has proved to millions of Chinese families that professional dreams can be realized. And he has made sponsors realize there's a huge snooker market out there."

Although this year's China Open may be remembered more for Ronnie O'Sullivan's lewd comments at a press conference, the tournament was also a great success with the fans and television networks.

Stephen Maguire scored the first-ever 147 in a ranking tournament in Asis on the way to winning the £50,000 cheque for his second title of the season.

And although home favourite Ding went out early in the second round, his presence was still keenly felt as hundreds of fans gathered around the venue, waving posters and waiting for him to appear and sign autographs.

Such is snooker's popularity that "people laugh and cry for it, just like volleyball or diving", Wang says. "When a sport attracts hundreds of millions of people, no one can ignore its power."

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport