China snooker player Ding Junhui. (Photo : Getty Images)
World no. 17 Ding Junhui of China defeated world no. 5 Judd Trump of England, 13-10, in their best-of-25 second round matchup in the 2016 Betfred World Snooker Championship held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England on Monday.
The 29-year-old former world no. 1, who was leading 10 frames to 6 over Trump before their final session on Monday, had a rough game but went on to win three of the final seven frames completed to clinch the win, as reported by BBC Sport.
Ding led 12-7 after three frames in the final session before Trump, also a former world no. 1, stringed three straight frames to cut the deficit to 12-10 and put a lot of pressure on the Chinese star.
However, the Jiangsu, China native managed to pick up his bearings and capture the 23rd frame to advance in the quarterfinals of the World Championship for the fourth time in his career.
"I feel good," Ding said after match. "When I feel well I don't feel a lot of pressure."
"Judd is a great player. I had a very good start at 6-2 up and after that I tried to hold on and win every session, or if not hold it at 4-4," he added.
The "Star of the East" was unseeded during the start tournament and had to go through qualifying to enter it after he dropped out of the world's top 16 beforehand.
Ding is set to face Welshman and 13th-seed Mark Williams in the last eight competitions starting on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Trump, although, disappointed, had expressed his support to rising star and compatriot Kyren Wilson after the match, saying that he is "not surprised to see Kyren in the quarterfinals at all" and that he believes he is "the new John Higgins, the new Mark Selby," as per Daily Mail Online.
"He could be around for a long time," Trump added.
The 24-year-old Wilson trounced seventh-seeded Mark Allen of Northern Ireland, 13-9, in their second round meeting to advance in the quarters against fellow Englishman and current world no. 1 Mark Selby.
Wilson, a Kettering, Northamptonshire, England native, is currently ranked 19th in the world. He won his first ranking title last year in the 2015 Shanghai Masters, defeating Trump in the final, 10-9.
