Ding Junhui in shock exit from China tournament

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World number two Ding Junhui said an early goodbye to the 2017 World Snooker International Championship after a 6-4 defeat to world number 62 Oliver Lines in the first round in Daqing, China.

Ding, the 2013 International Champion and last year's runner-up struggled to get past the qualification round, barely beating compatriot Chen Zhe 6-3, and his poor play carried over in the opening round. The Chinese, who is dealing with a bout of pink eye, made too many errors against Lines.

Ding began by claiming the opening two frames before his 22-year-old opponent took the third to halve the deficit. Ding extended his lead with a break of 62 before Lines secured frames five and six to level proceedings.

Oliver Lines (L) in action against Ding Junhui at the World Snooker International Championship /VCG Photo

Frame seven went the way of the world number two but it was one-way traffic from there on, as Lines reeled off the next three frames with top breaks of 78 and 71 to move through. He now has a second-round showdown with Robert Milkins.

“I’ve been in good form recently, but I was suffering from an eye infection before the match, so I didn’t see some of the balls very clearly. I made some faults during the competition,” said Ding.

The eye problem nearly forced him to pull out of the event in Heilongjiang Province, but the 30-year-old said he will be fine to play in his next tournament. ”I have gone to see the doctors every day, and he said it would take one week to fully recover.“