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Back in 1998, Marco Fu Ka-chun brought himself into playing professional snooker, it was in the same year that he reached the Grand Prix final. Despite coming second to Stephen Lee after a hard fought battle, Marco can still recall how it was like when some thousands of snooker fans flocked to the airport to welcome him back. Yet life was not easy, Fu did not live up to his reputed name of “Wonder Boy” thereafter, his form took a diving blow and people soon forgot the magical skills with which Marco once amazed.
Time flies, it took Marco eight years to re-discover the joy of playing snooker, and by knowing that enjoyment is the key to success, Fu drove himself into the semi-final of World Snooker Championship back in April 2006.
Marco emigrated to Canada with his family when he was young, the then 9-year-old kid found himself attracted by the colourful snooker balls, before urging his father to introduce him to the sport. No doubt that it was love-at-first-sight between Marco and snooker, the sport that is widely known as “Gentlemen’s sport”. As he was crowned the Western Canada champion, “Wonder Boy” began to ponder about his future as a professional player.
Knowing their beloved son’s intention, the Fu’s parents moved back to Hong Kong in 1996. Marco, representing Hong Kong, clinched two titles at the World Youth Snooker Championships and World Amateur Championships in 1997, which in turns paved the way for him to turn professional. Marco moved on and clinched the runner-up at Grand Prix 1998, making the 20-year-old teenager one of the hottest prospect in the sport that British players had long enjoyed their superiority.
Climbing through the ranks in just a space of time, Fu could not handle the fame as living under the limelight pressurized him a lot, and he failed to have the next breakthrough for years to come. Not only did Fu reach an impasse in his career, he almost fell out of top 32 in world rankings in the past season. It was only when Marco adjusted his mindset, and turned again to the Welsh snooker legend, Terry Griffiths, for guidance late last year that he managed to make a resurgence of his career.
“I witnessed a lot last year, Chris Small suffered from spondylitis that hindered him from playing snooker. Snooker is the sport he loves, but the pain on his back turns his love into hatred and he was left with no choice but to retire. Paul Hunter, another brilliant young lad from Leeds, even lost his brave battle to cancer recently. All these tell me one thing, you never know when your last game is, thus we have to grasp every chance, and enjoy every single match we played,” Marco Fu said with emotions.
Fu also came to understand that it was over-valuing the rankings and bonus that hindered his previous performance. He realized that it is miserable to have forgotten the joy of playing, and his very own reason for turning into a professional player. The talented Fu added that, he even thought about quitting the sport he had loved for so many years because of continuous setbacks, which were reflected on his ever-dropping world rankings.
Fortunately, having Terry Griffiths at his back, guiding him to the next technical breakthrough, and most importantly, adjusting his mindsets, Marco is able to restore to the basic of snooker - joy.
Fu, a prolific break-builder, added that, “I do regret for not enjoying my games previously, I realized at the World Championships, it is easy to play for joy and needless to concern elements like world rankings.” Looking forward to the year-end Asian Games at Doha, Hong Kong will be facing fierce challenge on its path to its third team gold in a row. But what remains important is that key player Marco Fu will now and forever be playing with his heart, just again. |
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