Snooker: Ding notches century clearance for victory over Chinese rival

(PA)

The all-Chinese encounter in the first round of the World Snooker Championship ended with victory for Ding Junhui as he won a thrilling contest against Liang Wenbo yesterday.

Ding, the world No 11, will meet the seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry in the second round after beating Liang 10-8 in front of an enthralled crowd at the Crucible in Sheffield. Having led 5-4 overnight, Ding initially looked comfortable as he went 7-4 ahead. But Liang played some superb snooker to battle back, taking the next four to give himself an 8-7 lead.

The younger man was in control and Ding, the Chinese No 1, was starting to falter. But after not potting a ball for more than an hour, Ding notched a clearance of 111 to bring things back to 8-8 before a break of 91 left him a frame from victory. A last break of 63 sealed the match.