Once considered a saloon or rec-room past-time by many, snooker has long been serious business in the U.K. and much of the rest of the world. Now, it seems, it's China's turn in the spotlight.
Zhao Xintong's crowning as Asia's first world snooker champion has put the focus on the growth of the sport in China in a relatively short time.
"There's a new superstar of the game," said Mark Williams, 50, the three-time World Champion from Wales who lost to Zhao in the final of the World Snooker Championship, held in Sheffield, north England, on Sunday. "It could be huge for the sport."
Brought to China by foreign traders in the 19th century, snooker suffered during the early Communist period, when all pastimes seen as individualistic, bourgeois and foreign were frowned upon. The first ranking event to be held in Asia was the Hong Kong Open in 1989. The following year China hosted the Asian Open.
The death in 1976 of Mao Zedong , opened the doors for the sport and snooker has now moved from smoky backstreet parlors and outdoor shopfront street-side tables - amazingly kept level by the bricks they sat on - to swanky halls and practice venues.