Take Away English-Chinese Snooker Players 中国斯诺克选手

Snooker is a big sport in China

Snooker is a big sport in China. Sources suggest there are 300 million snooker players there, which is more than the rest of the world put together.

So it's no surprise that some of the world's best players come from China. They have been showing off their talent at the World Snooker Championship, which takes place every year here in the UK at the Crucible¹ Theatre in the northern English city of Sheffield.

The World Snooker Championship is the most important event in professional snooker in terms of prize money, prestige³ and world ranking points.

This year four of the contenders for World Snooker Champion were Chinese – Marco Fu, Liu Chuang, Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo. Liu Chuang and Liang Wenbo are making their debut⁴ in Sheffield this year, in fact.

However, only one of those players, Liang Wenbo, has made it to the final eight. Wenbo is currently⁵ officially ranked 53 in the world. His best performance to date was when he reached the last 32 in the 2006 Welsh Open, so to get through to the final eight in the World Championship is quite an achievement. He may go even further.

The left-handed snooker pro² comes from Heilongjiang and it is hoped he will follow the success of fellow countryman Ding Junhui.

Wenbo is the first Chinese player to ever reach the quarter finals of the Championship and he just sneaked⁶ through after an extremely tough second round game against Northern Ireland's Joe Swail.

After a long and enthralling⁷ battle, Wenbo finally won 13-12 and he now faces twice World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. This promises to be another difficult game for the Chinese rising star as O'Sullivan reached the last eight with an amazing maximum break of 147.

O'Sullivan would have picked up £157,000 (more than 2 million RMB) prize money but another player, England's Ali Carter, has now matched his achievement in the same tournament. O'Sullivan will have to share the money with Carter, and indeed with anyone else who gets a maximum break before the end of the championship.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

more than the rest of the world put together 比世界其它所有加起来都要多 in terms of 以…而论 world ranking points 国际得分等级 making their debut 他们的首次登场 ranked 排名 pro 专业选手 quarter finals 四分之一决赛 round （比赛）轮次 rising star 崛起之星

showing off 显耀 prestige 威望 contenders 竞争者 made it to the final eight 进入了决赛最后八强 to date 至今 fellow countryman 相同国家的人 sneaked 悄悄地做到了 enthralling 紧扣人心的 maximum break 单杆147分的分

 

1 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 prestige   

n.声望，威望，威信

参考例句：

• Their products enjoy ever higher prestige in the world market.他们的产品在世界市场上享有越来越高的声誉。
• He has high prestige among the masses.他在群众中威信很高。

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

6 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

7 enthralling   

迷人的

参考例句：

• There will be an enthralling race tomorrow. 明天会有场吸引人的比赛。
• There was something terribly enthralling in the exercise of influence. 在这样地施加影响时，令人感到销魂夺魄。