Ding Junhui edged into the last 16 of the World Snooker Tour Xi'an Grand Prix with a 5‑3 victory over Louis Heathcote on Thursday.

The Chinese veteran set the tone early with breaks of 52 and a century to lead 2‑0. The players traded the next two frames, leaving Ding 3‑1 before the interval. Heathcote then produced a thunderous 121 after Ding overcommitted in the fifth, trimming the gap to 3‑2, but Ding answered emphatically with a 115 in the sixth to reassert control. Heathcote kept the pressure on by taking the seventh, only for Ding to close the match in the eighth with a composed 50.

"I did not perform very well today and I failed to pocket some balls. That's how competitions go," Ding admitted afterwards. "I don't know what will happen. Sometimes I don't think I can miss, but then it happens."