The snooker market got a big boost after Ding's 9-5 triumph over former world champion Stephen Hendry in 2005's China Open final, when 120 million people in the country watched the match on TV. Gaining increasing popularity, snooker has become one of the top three rated programs on China Central Television's sports channel, behind only the NBA and table tennis.

With the improvement of local players and the mushrooming of the market, the CBSA has introduced the China Open, Shanghai Masters, Jiangsu Classic and some other high-level events. For over two years, speculation has spread and the pros and cons have been debated over the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's intention to bring the World Championship to China. The contract between CBSA and Britain expires in 2010.

National team coach Li Jin considers the possibility unlikely. "After all, Britain is the hometown of the World Championship, but China still has the chance to embrace lower-level tournaments and other ranked events."

"A lot of people have high expectations to host the World Championship in China, but the time is not ripe," said Zhang of the Multiball Games Administrative Center, adding that introducing the World Championship is not only a question of cost, but also an objective assessment of how much help the event could bring to billiards development in China.

"The World Snooker Tour has six legs each year, and it's not easy for China to host two now. It is better to make the current events we host bigger and stronger," Zhang said.

First staged in 1999, the China Open has been held in Beijing regularly since 2005 as one of the globally ranked tournaments.