Marco Fu of Hong Kong remaind on course to become the first Asian snooker player to win the World Championship when he outplayed Scotland's Alan McManus 13-7 on Monday in Sheffield, England and reached the quarterfinal.
Leading 10-7 overnight, 25-year-old Fu won three frames in just 43 minutes at the Crucible Theater and now faces Stephen Lee for a place in the semifinal.
"You have got to bring the game overseas to try and popularize the sport," said Fu, who has taken over from Thailand's James Wattana as the top Asian player.
"James was the best Asian player ever because he got to number three in the world. And he also twice reached the semifinals here.
"I don't think there are too many more top players in Hong Kong at the moment. But there are a lot of good youngsters in China and in two or three years I'm sure you'll see a couple of them breaking through."
Fu's success in snooker's biggest tournament comes at a time when Asian sports is reeling because of the severe acute respiratory ayndrome (SARS) outbreak which has hit China and Hong Kong.
"We've been going through a tough time lately," he said in reference to his family back home. "And hopefully, if I can keep playing well, it will keep them happy."
SARS has infected more than 4,000 people, mostly in Asia but also in 20 other countries. More than 300 people have died.
As a result, sports has been badly affected. Many events in Asia have been canceled and fears have also spread to Europe.
Aston Villa and Everton in England and Germany's Bayern Munich canceled postseason tours to Asia, and Portugal withdrew from two friendly matches in South Korea and Japan scheduled for June.
Next month's World Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, are likely to be called off because they are usually dominated in Asian players. But the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris the following week are still on track.
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