Snooker: Future Bright for Defeated Ding

No one knows more about the game's pressures than Ronnie O'Sullivan so it was easy for him to appreciate Ding Junhui's evident distress in the closing stages of their Saga Masters final and offer the 19-year-old Chinese some compassion.

Ding had never suffered anything like the 10-3 trouncing O'Sullivan inflicted upon him on Sunday. Moreover he had to endure it in front of 2,500 spectators at Wembley Arena, some of whom felt they could contribute to proceedings. Ding seemed unnerved by some of the remarks, including one in Chinese. It was also alleged that he had been racially abused.

O'Sullivan was whispering in his opponent's ear at the end, but declined to reveal what he had said. He still believes that the young Chinese will offer a strong challenge for the world title in Sheffield in the spring. Ding shares a house in Sheffield with his mother and two other Chinese players and is likely to feel more at home both there and in the 980-seat Crucible Theatre, an intimate venue less likely to unnerve him.