A real Ding-Dong battle
Sheffield turned into Chinatown as Ding Junhui went head to head with Liang Wenbo in the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship
At the end of a fluctuating first session, Ding Junhui held a narrow 5-4 lead over his fellow countryman Liang Wenbo.Chinese media packed into the crammed Crucible media centre, while Chinese fans crowded into the arena, and back home in China a mind-boggling estimated 200 million viewers turned in to watch the match live on Chinese TV.
Ding started the better, compiling a nerve-settling 71 in the opener. He was pegged back by Wenbo winning a scrappy second.
Both Chinese stars had chances in the third, and the nerves were still very much in evidence. Wenbo made 38 but lost his way, Ding countered with 43 and added another 24 to regain the lead.
The fourth was smooth progress for Ding, who desparately needs to win this match to be sure of retaining his Top 16 status for next season. The 3 time ranking event winner countered with 63 after Wenbo failed on 31.
3-1 soon became 4-1 as Ding's 41 proved sufficient.
Then all of a sudden Wenbo found his range, and a characteristic quick fire 90, followed by a 95 brought him right back into the match.
A colours clearance saw Ding move 5-3 ahead and there followed a 32 minute final frame of the afternoon, which went right to the wire.
Ding failed on 46. Wenbo trapped him in a snooker and extracted 12 penalty points and then held his nerve to clear the colours to pinch the frame on the black.
That may well prove to be a pivotal moment in the match. Wenbo will be delighted to only trail 5-4 overnight, while Ding, who might have led 6-3 will still be feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Joe Perry and Jamie Cope also reached the half way stage in their match, which, after a scrappy start, turned into a very entertaining match.
Perry opened a 3-1 lead, largely thanks to a run of 79 in the third frame and black ball successes in the second and fourth.
A couple of thirties was enough for Perry to open a 4-1 lead, but he couldn't find an answer to 49 from Cope in the sixth.
Cope opened his shoulders to make 71 to close to 4-3. Perry promptly responded with 110, the best break in the match so far.
The night was rounded off by Cope firing in 81 to trail by the odd frame overnight.
