Backstage at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, home of the world snooker championship for almost four decades, is a board listing all the champions since the tournament’s inception in 1927.

在谢菲尔德(Sheffield)的克鲁斯堡剧院(Crucible Theatre)的后台，有一个牌子列出自1927年斯诺克世界锦标赛创立以来所有冠军选手的名字。近40年来，斯诺克世锦赛在谢菲尔德举办。

It reads like a street directory of any British town from a few generations ago. The names are entirely Anglo-Saxon, alleviated by a smattering of Celt. The only non-British winners have been an Irishman, a Canadian and two Australians. Small world.

这块牌子读起来就像是几代人之前的英国城镇上的街道指示牌。它们全都是盎格鲁-撒克逊名字，只是中间夹杂着一些凯尔特名字。非英格兰的冠军选手只有一个爱尔兰人、一个加拿大人和两个澳大利亚人。世界真的很小。

This year it might have been different. The biggest threat to Ronnie O’Sullivan completing a hat-trick of victories was thought to be Ding Junhui, from Shanghai, winner of five major titles this season and, according to the official programme, “a role model for tens of millions of fans in his homeland”.

今年本来可能有些不同。可能阻止罗尼•奥沙利文(Ronnie O’Sullivan)三连冠的最大威胁被认为是来自中国上海的丁俊晖。丁俊晖在本赛季拿下了5个冠军，据官方介绍资料，他是“中国数千万斯诺克球迷的榜样”。

But in a big shock, Ding went out in the first round. And though Marco Fu of Hong Kong has survived into the second half of the championship, O’Sullivan’s most-feared rivals this week will have more homegrown names.

但令人颇感意外的是，丁俊晖在首轮比赛就被淘汰出局。尽管香港的傅家俊(Marco Fu)成功杀入第二轮比赛，但奥沙利文本周最担心的对手将有更为本土的名字。

In 1985, tens of millions (well, almost two tens of millions) of British viewers sat up after midnight to watch the final-black finish to the epic final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis. Survivors might have wondered what happened to the sport since then.

1985年，数千万（嗯，接近两千万）英国观众一直熬到午夜以后，观看丹尼斯•泰勒(Dennis Taylor)和史蒂夫•戴维斯(Steve Davis)史诗般决胜局的“抢黑大战”。经历过这种场景的人们或许想知道，自那以后斯诺克发生了什么。

It still sprawls across the BBC schedules for a springtime fortnight, climaxing on the May Day bank holiday. The intimate Crucible is still packed, even for the 10am sessions. The standard, according to Clive Everton, the doyen of snooker writers, has never been higher. In this most geometrical of sports, he can prove it mathematically by citing the size of breaks.

在春季的这两个星期里，英国广播公司(BBC)的节目表上仍排满了斯诺克的各项赛事，并在5月的第一个长周末达到高潮。克鲁斯堡剧院仍会坐满观众，即便是上午10点的比赛。按照资深斯诺克作家克莱夫•埃弗顿(Clive Everton)的说法，选手们的水准从来没有这么高过。就这个与几何学最相关的运动而言，他可以借助单杆得分，从数学上证明这一点。

And, after years of internal wrangles, snooker appears to have found a clear direction under the control of Barry Hearn, who made his reputation and much of his fortune as Davis’s manager. Last week, he announced plans to revitalise public interest, including wild cards into the Championship for the old favourites.

经过多年内部争执之后，斯诺克在巴里•赫恩(Barry Hearn)的控制下似乎找到了明确的发展方向。赫恩作为戴维斯的经理而声名鹊起，其大部分财富也来源于此。上周，他宣布了重新激发公众兴趣的计划，包括安排老牌著名选手破例参加斯诺克世锦赛。

O’Sullivan – with his tortured personality, wonderful economy of movement in the good frames and Mr Beanish expressions in the bad ones – is a recognisable character. His rivals do seem a bit bland.

奥沙利文是一个有鲜明性格的人物，个性拧巴的他打得好的时候如行云流水，打得不好的时候则会露出“憨豆先生”般的神情。相比之下，他的对手确实有点平淡。

Only the intimidating white-gloved referees maintain snooker’s old sense of self-confidence. Part-butler, part-traffic cop, they patrol the stage, monitoring the crowd as much as the game, eyes and ears open for the slightest rustle of sweet-papers or ping of a text-message. Not for years have I felt such an irresistible urge to have a coughing fit.

只有令人生畏、戴着白手套的裁判保持着斯诺克旧日的那种自信。他们在某种程度上既像是一位管家，又像是一位交警，在场上巡视着，监控观众人群和比赛。他们眼观六路、耳听八方，关注着哪怕是最轻微的剥糖果纸的沙沙声或者短信的提示音。多年来我从没有这么想忍住咳嗽。

Hearn’s direction is mainly leading the sport eastward. Since tobacco sponsorship was banned in 2005, this tournament has passed through four different bookmakers. This year, tellingly, the name on the posters is the Asian specialist Dafabet.

赫恩主要致力于引导斯诺克运动向东发展。自从2005年禁止烟草公司赞助以来，斯诺克锦标赛经历了四家不同博彩公司的赞助。颇能说明问题的是，今年宣传海报上的赞助商名字是来自亚洲的大发体育博彩公司(Dafabet)。

The extent of Chinese interest in any sport is always hard for outsiders to assess and the reality can be disappointing for expansionist entrepreneurs. Tai Chengzhe, World Snooker’s PR man in China, says 10m regularly watch snooker on the CCTV-5 sports channel, rising to 20m if Ding is in a big final. But even that it is less than 2 per cent of the population.

外人很难评估中国人对任何体育运动的兴趣程度。对有意推广的企业家来说，现实可能令人失望。世界斯诺克协会(World Snooker)中方新闻官太成哲(Tai Chengzhe)表示，中国有1000万人定期观看中央电视台(CCTV)体育频道转播的斯诺克比赛，如果丁俊晖打进重大决赛，观众人数将上升至2000万。但即便如此，观众人数也不到中国人口的2%。

The Chinese are more familiar with their own strange variant of pool in which the cue ball is used as the object rather than the ammunition.

中国人更熟悉他们自己的奇怪的撞球运动——台球的一种变异形式，其中母球被用作目标球而不是打击球。

It is a game of smoky bar rooms of the kind where snooker came of age. And Ding is part of the sport’s individualistic tradition. When his parents sensed his talent, they moved from the edges of Shanghai to Guangdong, where snooker had more of a foothold. He came to England as a teenager and, at 27, now lives in Sheffield, which would be convenient – if he were still in the competition.

这是一种在斯诺克当年发展成熟的烟雾缭绕的酒吧中举办的游戏。丁俊晖是这项运动的个人主义传统的一部分。当他的父母察觉到他的天赋时，全家就从上海郊区搬到了斯诺克基础更为坚实的广东省。丁俊晖在少年时期就来到英国，今年27岁，目前住在谢菲尔德——如果他仍参加比赛的话，住在谢菲尔德还挺方便。

But, says Tai, “next year will be when the next generation makes its breakthrough and I am really looking forward to it”. These contenders will represent what one might call snooker with Chinese characteristics. They come out of a government-sponsored academy complete with psychologists and fitness trainers.

但是太成哲表示：“明年将是下一代选手取得突破的时期，我对此真的很期待。”这些选手或许将代表中国特色的斯诺克。他们来自政府赞助的一家斯诺克学院，该学院配备有心理学家和健身教练。

“No smoking or drinking, then?”

“那么，那里既不能抽烟，也不能喝酒？”

“No!” he says, horrified. “It’s an academy!”

他有些震惊地说道：“当然不能！那是一所学院。”