Former world number one Ding Junhui of China failed to reach the last 16 at the World Snooker Championship as he lost to Kyren Wilson of England 10-8 in the opening round on Wednesday.

Ding, the most prolific Chinese snooker player with 14 ranking titles, suffered a setback this season as his world ranking has slipped to 29.

The 35-year-old ace managed to grab a berth in the final stages at the World Championship through qualification and took a 3-0 lead against Wilson while facing the world number five in the first round.

Wilson fought back hard to level with Ding from 3-3 to 8-8, then the 30-year-old took the following two frames to set up a clash with Stuart Bingham.

During an on-court interview after the match, Ding said he was not disappointed not to win the match.

"The season is finished. And I am not really disappointed as I have my time back. I had a lot of chances and didn't make frame-winning [contributions]. I can't forget about that," Ding said.

"It was awesome. I loved every minute of it," Wilson was quoted as saying by the World Snooker Tour website. "When you're both scoring well and feeding off each other, it produces good snooker. It was fast, attacking, flowing and there were some close finishes too. It had a bit of everything."

Other Chinese players Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao both won the first-round matches in the year-ending tournament.

Yan will face defending champion Mark Selby of England while Zhao is going to meet Stephen Maguire of Scotland in the second round.

(With input from Xinhua)