China's Ding Junhui is desperate to become snooker's world champion for the first time in his career but will not put himself under any extra pressure to achieve his lifelong dream.

The 35-year-old has not won a ranking event since 2019 and has dropped to 16 in the world rankings, but after recently winning a tournament in Thailand, Ding is in good spirits for the sport's biggest showpiece.

"I really want to win it, but I won't put myself under too much pressure. It's going to destroy my game," he told CGTN. "If anything happens, I'll try to make myself relaxed in the tournament and to win it. Hopefully, I can get some luck. In the sport, you need to get luck sometimes."

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Ding, born in Yixing, Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, has come a long way since exploding onto the world stage aged 18 by winning the 2005 China Open in front of an ecstatic crowd in Beijing.

Within eight months, Ding was lifting the UK Championship trophy for the first time and became a very familiar face on Chinese TV. A 26-episode series called Dragon Ball No 1 was even made about his journey from shy boy to international stardom. 

"Winning for the first time that ranking title was amazing," he added. "I was only 18 years old and I never thought I could win one title in my career. It was tough for the first few years. I was 18 and 19 after my first titles and I couldn't close my eyes. The good thing is it made me think I'm a good player." 

In an interview at the The Crucible in Sheffield Ding told CGTN Europe, "Now I'm working so hard to bring the tournament back home. I dream to win everytime I play the World Championship."

Ding faces Iranian Hossein Vafaei in the opening round of the World Championship on Sunday and will need five consecutive victories at The Crucible theater to be crowned world champion. How would he feel if he finally got his hands on the famous trophy?

"It's very exciting. I think the pressure is always with me and if I were to win one day, I think I would have a very good sleep!"

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