Ding overcomes early hiccups at Crucible

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Chinese star Ding Junhui overcame a sluggish start to claw his way back to the driver’s seat against his compatriot Xiao Guodong in the snooker World Championship first-round clash on Monday.

Eying his maiden at the Crucible in Sheffield, Ding suffered an early blow to his title quest after losing the first two frames. The world number three, however, valiantly fought back to turn the tide in his favor with a break of 68 to take the third frame that proved to be a turning point.

There was no looking back for Ding as he remained calm and pulled one back in the third frame. Although a mistake on the green had almost cost him the fourth, he was able to trap Xiao with sophisticated snooker. A slew of successive fouls by Xiao then helped Ding restore control of the table. Subsequently, the 31-year-old potted a brilliant blue to seal the frame with the game split at 2-2 after four.

China’s Xiao Gudong in action during his first-round clash against Ding Junhui at the Crucible in Sheffield. /VCG Photo‍

After a short break, Ding rode on the newly regained momentum to keep Xiao in his chair. The 2016 runner-up of this event went on a run of 124 to go ahead 3-2 before taking the sixth 68-46. But Xiao won the seventh to make it 4-3. Ding then reeled off the last two frames of the day to ensure that he leads 6-3 after the first session. The winner of this match will meet either Anthony McGill or Ryan Day.