The King of Snooker

The King of Snooker
Official poster
桌球天王
GenreSports drama
StarringAdam Cheng
Niki Chow
Patrick Tang
Joyce Tang
Derek Kok
Benz Hui
Halina Tam
Opening theme"命運遊戲 (Destiny's Game)" by Adam Cheng
Country of originHong Kong
Original languageCantonese
No. of episodes20
Production
ProducerTerry Tong
Running time45 minutes (approx.)
Original release
NetworkTVB
Release30 March (2009-03-30) –
24 April 2009 (2009-04-24)

The King of Snooker (Traditional Chinese: 桌球天王) is a TVB television drama miniseries revolving around the sport of snooker in Hong Kong. It was originally broadcast by the network in 2009, from 30 March through 24 April, and subsequently re-released on DVD in several translations.

Synopsis

World champion snooker player Yau Yat Kiu (Adam Cheng) takes everyone by surprise when he suddenly retires from the snooker world. This comes as a huge disappointment to his daughter Yau Ka Kan (Niki Chow), who has always wanted to follow in his footsteps. She feels bewildered too, for although Kiu pretends he does not care about the sport any more, he has set up a series of challenge matches on the snooker table in his restaurant. His real purpose is that he is waiting for someone he feels is worth taking on as a protégé. Kiu comes to know Kan Tze Him (Patrick Tang) by chance. Noticing his flair for snooker, Kiu decides to teach Him all he knows about the game. Later, Kan manages to persuade her father into taking her on as a student as well.

Him fancies Kan, but she is fond of Lui Kin Chung (Derek Kok), Kiu's bitter rival. Chung's manager is a devious person; in order to ensure Chung's victory against Kiu, he drugs Kiu's water with sleeping pills during a match. After the game, Chung falls out with his manager because of this when he finds out.

Later in the series, a woman named Chin To To (Joyce Tang) falls in love with Kiu. Meanwhile, Him falls out with Kiu because of Chung's ex-manager. Both master and disciple come to settle their scores on a snooker table in the end.

Cast

Cast Role Description
Adam Cheng Yau Yat-Kiu
游一橋		 Snooker Player
Yau Ka-Kan's father.
Chin To-To's lover
Kan Tze-Him's teacher
Niki Chow Yau Ka-Kan
游加勤		 Yau Yat-Kiu's daughter.
Kan Tze-Him's lover.
Patrick Tang Kan Tze-Him
靳子謙		 Yau Yat-Kiu's apprentice.
Yau Ka-Kan's lover.
Chin To-To's nephew
Joyce Tang Chin To-To (Toni)
錢滔滔		 PR Director
Yau Yat-Kiu's lover.
Kan Tze-Him's aunt
Derek Kok Lui Kin-Chung (Ray)
雷建衝		 Snooker Player
Benz Hui Yau Yee-Bor
游二波		 Yau Yat-Kiu's brother.
See To Ma-Lei's lover
Halina Tam See To Ma-Lei
司徒瑪莉		 Chin To-To's cousin.
Yau Yee-Bor's lover
Catherine Chau (周家怡) Chow Hin Wai
周顯慧		 Waitress
Mandy Wong (Amy) Starblaze employee

Awards and nominations

TVB Anniversary Awards (2009):

  • Best Drama
  • Most Improved Actress (Catherine Chau)

Viewership ratings

Week Episodes Average
points 		Peaking
points 		References
1 March 30 – April 3, 2009 1–5 26 28 [1]
2 April 6–10, 2009 6–10 26 — [2]
3 April 13–17, 2009 11–15 28 — [3]
4 April 20–24, 2009 16–20 27 32 [4]

DVD release

The entire 20-episode miniseries has been re-released as a region-free 4-disc DVD box set in NTSC video format. It features the original Cantonese and a Mandarin Chinese audio track, with English and Malay translation subtitles, and Chinese subtitles for the hearing-impaired.

References

  1. ^ Week 1 Ratings
  2. ^ Week 2 Ratings
  3. ^ Week 3 Ratings
  4. ^ Week 4 Ratings

Notes

  • In 2008, prior to filming, Joyce Cheng, along with Adam Cheng were considered, for they were daughter and father. Ultamitely, the former had schedule conflicts, ultimately causing Nikki Chow to inherit the role of Yau-Ka-Kan.