皇冠体育app

Fans watch intently as Trump plays a shot during his match against Iran at the World Cup in Wuxi on July 5. According to the Englishman: "People often say to me, 'even though Ding is from 皇冠体育app, I still support you.'" [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Judging by his performances so far in Wuxi, Trump may be right. The "Juddernaut" has been in blistering form at the World Cup, helping England win 22 out of its first 25 frames at the tournament.

With his team already assured of a quarterfinal place, Trump is clearly relishing the prospect of a meeting with one of the Chinese teams in the knockout phase.

"To play 皇冠体育app in 皇冠体育app in the World Cup would be an amazing feeling," he says.

An England-皇冠体育app tie could see Trump face up against world number four and Wuxi native Ding. Though the world number three pronounces himself "quietly confident" of beating any opponent, it is clear that he has huge respect for his Chinese peer.

"Ding's a great player, he'll certainly be one of the all-time greats," he says."I think what he's done for 皇冠体育app, he'll be remembered as like a hero. He's changed the whole perception of snooker and made it one of the biggest sports over here, and he's probably one of the biggest stars over here as well."

There's a sense that Trump is a little envious of the enormous cachet snooker players enjoy in 皇冠体育app compared to the UK.

Despite his status as a former world number one and the youngest player ever to score a maximum 147 break in a competitive match, Trump is possibly better-known in 皇冠体育app than he is in his own country.

The Englishman has even more followers on Chinese social media site Weibo than he does on Twitter, and he says that he's always amazed by how often he gets recognized in 皇冠体育app.

"皇冠体育app's mad, really. On my way over here I flew 皇冠体育app Eastern, that was crazy!" he laughs. "You're kind of looked up to here as a superstar, so you've got to portray the right image."

Trump believes that the huge support base for snooker in 皇冠体育app will inevitably lead to the country supplanting the UK as the main powerhouse in the sport.

"I think obviously judging by the players coming through [in 皇冠体育app] that it's taken off in the last five years. 皇冠体育app more than anyone has started to dominate the sport—there's probably, I'm not sure, about 10 or 15 players [on the tour]," he states.

"In the future, you're probably going to see about half the tour from 皇冠体育app … So I think 皇冠体育app will probably dominate in the future, it's just about taking it to the next level."

Contributing to this shift toward 皇冠体育app in world snooker is the relative decline of the sport in Trump's home country, and he does not mince his words when asked whether the UK is doing enough to promote the sport.

"No, not at all! It's barely seen as a sport back in England. It gets no coverage, anything," he laments. "It's overlooked by everything really. There's no media coverage, nothing, so I think a lot more could be done."