LOCAL snooker hero Marco Fu has further strengthened his position in his fans' hearts thanks to a stunning great-escape match he staged on Tuesday at the Shanghai International Gymnastics Centre.

Marco Fu

As the last Chinese survivor in the 2002 China Open after the qualifying and wildcard round on Sunday, Fu miraculously came back in the contest against the event's 6th seed, Welshman Matthew Stevens, from 4-1 down, thereby enabling the world No. 17 from Hong Kong to enter the last 16.

The hard-fought battle could turn out to be a confidence booster for the 24-year-old, who was Grand Prix runner-up in 1998 and has been struggling to regain his form from a series of disappointing performances over the last two seasons.

"The tough match will be one of the most memorable for me," said Fu, who lost the two previous meetings 5-0 and 5-1 against the Welshman, currently No. 6 in the Embassy World Rankings.

"I came from 4-1 down to beat Ali Carter once, but this was a better fight-back because Matthew is such a good player and he didn't make many mistakes," he said.

It took Stevens 75 minutes to secure his three-frame lead in the contest, driving the Welshman to the brink of the third consecutive win against Fu.

Though Fu managed to pull two back with runs of 69 and 62, he still looked doomed in the decisive eighth frame with 33 points behind when trapped in an awkward snooker.

But he staged a narrow escape from the breathtaking frame testing the two's safety techniques and forced an error from his opponent, then cleared magnificently to the black to grab the decider.

Stevens was left with no chance in the final frame where Fu netted a long red that set up a decisive 77.

"I had to dig really deep and it was a great achievement. The clearance in the eighth frame was one of the best I have ever made, even in practice," said Fu, who will combat the World No. 39, Darren Morgan, today in the next round.

"I felt a bit more pressure in the opening match (against Marcus Campbell), but today I was very relaxed and local fans gave me much support as well as confidence," he said.

"Hopefully this win will inspire me to put a run of good results together."

If Fu's wish comes true, that will push more fans to fix their eyes on the Chinese youngster, who has been fighting for an Asian domain in the game dominated by Europeans.

Dubbed "Snooker Prodigy of the East," Fu started his love affair with the game when he was still a nine-year-old kid, who was brought into the wonderland of snooker by his father, who first taught him how to play.

Carefully watched over by his father, Fu's career development got a real start with the beginning of professional training when he was 15.

His gift in the game began to appear as Fu made his first century break also at that age, and his first 147 during a single frame came at 17.

After lifting the world amateur crown in 1997, Fu turned professional the following year, and after two years, his world ranking jumped from 377th to 15th, giving him a place among the game's elite.

He shot to prominence in the 1998 Grand Prix, where he was outplayed 9-2 in the final by England's Stephen Lee, who is currently ranked world No. 8.

"When I first started, I felt relaxed and only wanted to enjoy the game, even though I had to combat these big-name players," said Fu, explaining his eye-catching achievement at that time.

Yet Fu spent an indifferent 2000-01 season, regarded by himself as the lowest moment in his career so far as he lost five opening matches during the time and his ranking dropped out of the world's top 16.

However, the youngster obviously seems poised to get over the hump and stage a real comeback this season.

"This year will be better because I feel more relaxed," he said.

Right now he is making a few technical alterations to his game, though he has not got quite used to it yet, and hopefully in a few months he will play better in a more aggressive way, according to Fu.

"My present career ambition is to win a world champion title, though I know it's long way to go," Fu said.