Ding's chase for world title ends
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 1, 2013
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Ding Junhui's chase for world title ends. |
Ding Junhui's hopes of becoming the first Chinese player to win the world snooker title will have to be put on hold for another year following a 7-13 quarterfinal defeat by England's Barry Hawkins at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre yesterday.
The match was still in the balance, with Hawkins only two frames in front at 9-7, when the best of 25-frame contest resumed yesterday.
But Hawkins made short work of former UK and Masters champion Ding by reeling off the four frames he needed to claim his second major scalp of the tournament. Hawkins defeated world No. 1 Mark Selby and Ding's side of the draw also saw early exits for Australian former world champion Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Stephen Maguire.
Six previous visits to the Crucible had resulted in Ding just once before going beyond the second round, when he lost to Judd Trump in the 2011 semifinals.
But after defeating England's Mark King to book a place in this year's last eight, the Chinese cue man, who is based in the northern English city of Sheffield, said he felt more at home in the Crucible than in front of an adoring home crowd in China, where snooker is a fast-growing sport.
However, he failed to reach the heights he hit against King, who said on that form even current world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan would struggle to beat him, with Ding largely listless in defeat by Hawkins.
On Tuesday, O'Sullivan produced a stunning burst of form to establish a 7-1 lead over Stuart Bingham in their quarterfinal match.
O'Sullivan is playing in his first major tournament in over a year and complained of feeling "tired and jaded" after overcoming Ali Carter in the second round, but the 37-year-old unleashed a devastating display against Bingham to close on the semifinals.
The four-time world champion produced two century breaks, including a break of 133 in the sixth frame, and five breaks of over 50 to leave Bingham clinging on for dear life at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Bingham, the world No. 8, finally salvaged a measure of pride by edging the final frame of the session in the best-of-25 frame contest.
"He was fantastic. There's nobody better to watch. It's effortless, and that's the beauty of his talent," former world champion Ken Doherty said.
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