Why Ding Junhui earned no prize money for his historic China Open title victory on home soil

Ding won both the Asian Under-21 and Asian Amateur (open-aged) Championships in 2002, before later in the year claiming the World Under-21 Championship held in Latvia. The following year, he turned professional at the age of just 16.

During his rookie season on the top flight, Ding was invited to the Masters as a wildcard. At the Wembley Conference Centre in London, the Chinese teenager introduced himself onto the global stage, defeating top 16 player Joe Perry with two century breaks, before being ousted 6-5 by Stephen Lee, having been 5-2 up.

In his second season on the professional circuit, the China Open ranking event returned to the calendar after a short absence.

The first two editions of the tournament held in 1999 and 2000 were won by Ronnie O’Sullivan, with Mark Williams claiming the crown in 2002.

As the world number 62 at the time, Ding was supposed to attend the qualifying rounds for the competition which took place at Pontins Prestatyn in North Wales - on the other side of the world - several weeks before, in order to reach the main draw staged in Beijing.

But organisers understandably wanted to guarantee Ding’s attendance at the main venue, not wanting to risk him losing in the preliminaries held in Prestatyn. Therefore, they offered the youngster a place in the wildcard round that was played in the Far East just before the last 32 stage.

A round featuring 13 other selected Chinese invites, Ding accepted his spot as a wildcard, defeating Mark Davis 5-2 to reach the round of the 32 where the top 16 seeds entered the competition. The only other Chinese cueist to win in the wildcard round was future professional player Liang Wenbo.

Ding then whitewashed former world champion Peter Ebdon 5-0, before victories over Stuart Bingham (5-4) and Marco Fu (5-2). In the semi-finals, he swept aside 1997 Crucible champion Ken Doherty, 6-0.

A blockbuster final was in store as Ding faced seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, who had won a ranking event in Malta only a couple of months before.

It looked as if the Scot’s experience might be too much for his rising star opponent in the final, as Hendry established a 4-1 lead. However, Ding’s sensational run on home soil would have a fairy-tale ending, as he took eight of the next nine frames, wrapping up a 9-5 triumph with a break of 103.

Two days after celebrating his 18th birthday, Ding became the first player from China to win a ranking event, and the second youngest in the history of the professional game to lift a ranking trophy - just nine days older than when a 17-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan won the 1993 UK Championship.

It was estimated that a television audience of around 110 million people tuned in to watch the final, and the mayor of Beijing was in attendance at the Haidian Stadium venue.

A monumental success, but Ding didn't receive a single penny in prize money for his feat due to accepting his place in the draw as a wildcard, and not taking his natural pathway through the qualifying rounds.

He also didn't receive any ranking points, and actually dropped four places in the provisional world rankings as a result.

However, after the tournament, it was reported by the Chinese press that Ding was presented with US$50,000 by local table manufacturer Star in honour of his achievement, as well as being awarded with a luxury apartment.