Home veteran and defending champion Dong Junhui beat Michael Holt of England 6-1 in the first round at the World Snooker Tour (WST) International Championship in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Monday.

Ding had a perfect start as he soon built a 2-0 advantage with breaks of 134 and 97 in the first two frames. He then continued to dominate and doubled his lead. Holt tried to rally in the fifth round, but Ding outperformed him 56-46 for the match point.

The Englishman pulled one back in the sixth, but that turned out to be his last highlight because Ding sealed the deal in the seventh frame with a break of 86 points. Ding will face another player of England, Liam Highfield, next.

Another eye-catching battle on the day was between two Chinese players, Zhao Xintong and Fan Zhengyi. The two held each other 2-2 after the first four frames.

Fan had the chance to take the fifth after a 62-point break, but Zhao managed to come back 63-62 and then clinched another frame to lead 4-2. Though Fan extended the match to the eighth round by taking the seventh, he couldn't stop Zhao from claiming two frames in a row for the victory.

Zhao will play another compatriot Lei Peifan next.