China's Ding confident of the Masters

China's Ding Junhui will be looking to add to his recent haul of trophies when he competes in the snooker Masters next week, and is excited by the possibility of a clash with Marco Fu of Hong Kong, China.

Ding has been snooker's most successful player so far this season, winning a hat-trick of ranking titles at the Shanghai Masters, Indian Open and International Championship.

All three of those were all-Asian finals with Ding beating China's Xiao Guodong in Shanghai, India's Aditya Mehta in New Delhi and Fu at the International in Chengdu.

Fu also enjoyed the best year of his career in 2013, highlighted by victory at the Australian Open.

Ding has won the Masters once before, in 2011 when he beat Fu in the final, but he lost in the first round in 2012 and 2013.

"I am very confident I can achieve more this season," said the 26-year-old ace. "I have had a good rest for the past three weeks which was very important for me, half-way through the season. It has enabled me to recharge the batteries and I feel fresh to face the challenge ahead.

"The Masters is a very traditional event with a lot of history. It is very important for every player. Only the top 16 can play there, which makes it even more special."

If Ding wins his opening match against Shaun Murphy and Fu overcomes Judd Trump, the two would meet in the quarter-finals next Thursday at Alexandra Palace.

"If that happens I hope we will have a fantastic match together," added Ding. "I am sure there will be many big matches between Asia's best players in the coming years. Alexandra Palace is a very good venue, especially the atmosphere as the fans are very passionate. I would love to see many Chinese fans there giving me support."

The tournament runs from January 12 to 19 and also features the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and John Higgins.