Snooker Boys Come of Age

[PeterRS]

Not sure if there are many snooker fans on the Board. I have enjoyed the sport for decades (purely as a spectator - I can't pot anything) and have loved the exploits of many of the greats. But tonight there is the chance to witness something vey unusual. Two mid-20s guys competing in their first-ever major final at the very prestigious UK Championship. The promise of these two has been obvious for years and they finally seem to have come of snooker age. In the semi finals yesterday, they demolished in absolutely stunning fashion much higher ranked opponents, as they have throughout the two week tournament.

The 24-year old Chinese from Xi'an, Zhao Xintong, has been called by Ronnie O'Sullivan, arguably the finest player ever to have graced a snooker table, "the Roger Federer of snooker". Other top players, past and present, call him the most natural talent to have appeared for many years.

Zhao will play the 26-year old Belgian Luca Brecel. I remember being impressed when first seeing him play 9 years ago. He was then a cute young lad. But I recall at one point the camera focussed on his parents and being surprised that his father looked like a fat, bald and generally unattractive slob (only a personal opinion). Sadly, the genes have been passed to Luca who is now almost totally bald and lost many of his good looks. But that should in no way detract from the skill he shows in abundance. The match today should be a classic between two guys we will hear a great deal more about in the years to come.

[caeron]

 

I googled Luca, and you're right. Seems his genes are working against him, he was cute. Zhao certainly is.

[PeterRS]

15 minutes ago, caeron said:

I googled Luca, and you're right. Seems his genes are working against him, he was cute. Zhao certainly is.

Zhao was extremely cute when he beat John Higgins in the German Masters about 6 years ago. I agree - I still find him cute and I love his composure during matches. I know his home town is Xi'an which has a large Muslim population. It seems to me that he does not have classical Han Chinese facial features and I wonder if there is an element of Muslim blood in his family - not that makes the slightest difference to his playing and being cute! If he can only win tonight, I think it will be the start of a very exciting new era for the game of snooker.

[PeterRS]

I stayed up till 4:00 am. I was absolutely hooked on that final. Zhao won in the most superb fashion. At times his playing was near unbelievable. Now everyone is talking about him. As his opponent said later, he's a 24 year old who looks 14!

[PeterRS]

[thaiophilus]

18 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I wonder if there is an element of Muslim blood in his family

???

"Muslim" denotes a religion, not an ethnicity.

 

[caeron]

7 minutes ago, thaiophilus said:

???

"Muslim" denotes a religion, not an ethnicity.

 

The Muslims of China are typically ethnically distinct to my knowledge. In Xi'an, they're typically Hui, though this is also the region of the part of China the Uyghurs come from that we've heard so much about because the Chinese government is oppressing them so badly. 

That said, he looks perfectly Chinese to me.

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, caeron said:

The Muslims of China are typically ethnically distinct to my knowledge. In Xi'an, they're typically Hui, though this is also the region of the part of China the Uyghurs come from that we've heard so much about because the Chinese government is oppressing them so badly. 

That said, he looks perfectly Chinese to me.

Yes, i agree in that photo he looks typically Chinese. Seeing his face in close-up on television I reckoned there were certain differences. But just my thoughts.

I don't think it is true that the Uyghurs are from the same region as the Hui in Xi'an and thereabouts. I have always been under the impression the Uyghurs were from a different 'stock'. There have ben Hui in Xi'an for around 1,300 years, They come from a mix of Silk Road countries like Persia and parts of Arabia. They are well assimilated into the life of the city and suffer no persecution. They have their own Great Mosque of Xi'an, one of the oldest in the country.

The Uyghurs are ethnically different from the Hui. They come more from the northern Middle Eastern countries like Turkey and then the various central Asian 'stans' - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan etc. The region was conquered during the Han Dynasty around 2 millennia ago. Thereafter it was variously part of the Mongol empire, a series of independent states, of the Tang Dynasty and then for five centuries an independent state again.  The Qing Empire finally conquered it in the 18th century and eventually renamed it Xinjiang. Amongst the Uyghurs there is a strong West Eurasian gene resulting in fair hair and blue eyes in roughly 50% of the population. This is totally different from the Muslims in Xi'an.

Xi'an Great Mosque

Streets in Xi'an Muslim Quarter

[caeron]

 

They are both in northwest China is all I meant. I know they're quite distinct. The Hui speak Chinese and are quite integrated into Chinese society according to what I read.

No doubt that's why they don't get the same abuse the Uyghur are getting. 

[PeterRS]

11 hours ago, caeron said:

They are both in northwest China is all I meant. I know they're quite distinct. The Hui speak Chinese and are quite integrated into Chinese society according to what I read.

I don't want to get into an extended discussion but I'm sorry it is quite wrong to say that both regions are in China's northwest. Xinjiang definitely is. But Xi'an in Shaanxi Province is in the centre of the country, far closer to Beijing and Shanghai than it is to Uyghur territory. The distance between Xi'an and the nearest edge of Xinjiang Province is around 2,500 kms., roughy the distance between London and Moscow. In fact, Xinjiang is closer to Delhi than Xi'an!

[caeron]

I'm won't argue, since I'm sure you're right. I was using google to confirm my limited knowledge of the subject relating to the two ethnic groups and where they predominately were:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hui_people says that the Hui people are mainly in the Northwest

as does

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs also says that the Uyghur are also from the Northwest.

When my knowledge of a subject is relatively limited, I try to seek sources before commenting. 

[PeterRS]

I have quickly looked at those wikipedia sites. I'm sorry they are just far too long for me to even bother reading in detail! But it is clear from the first few paragraphs that there are Muslim communities in most major Chinese cities and that they are primarily Hui people. So, as in Xi'an, they have been integrated into the local Chinese populations for very many centuries. 

There may well be some Hui people in Xinjiang but I know from good friends in Beijing and Shanghai that the population is very largely of a different ethnic stock. The reason the Muslims in Xinjiang are being treated so abominably by the Chinese leadership is that they have only really been part of China for a much shorter time. Over history they have been ruled by different Empires as well as different Chinese Empires. Then as I noted above they had 5 centuries of virtual independence before the Qing Dynasty forcibly annexed the Province again.

Xinjiang and Tibet are 2 massive Provinces which happen to make up China's western border. We know from quite recent Chinese history that the Beijing leadership has since the decline of the Imperial system been extremely sensitive about the country's borders. In the second half of the 20th century it has fought border wars with the Soviet Union (which almost became nuclear), then India and most recently with Vietnam in 1979. Perhaps oddly China assumed control of both Provinces only in the early 18th century, although it paid little attention to them until after the collapse of the Nationalist government. The communists were determined that the country would never again permit the annexation of chunks of Chinese territory by western nations and Japan as it had been forced to do in the 19th and early 20th centuries. So its borders became the focus of far greater attention. The government's fear in both Provinces is of breakaway movements that might mushroom into full scale rebellion. 

What it is doing to ensure breakaway movements are strangled before they become a threat is something the world should be paying far more attention to. But in terms of international relations China is now too powerful. The rest of the world is not prepared to take China on in other than through meaningless diplomacy. China will have its way.