Ding Junhui competes during the round 1 match between Ding Junhui of China and Ronnie O'Sullivan of England at Snooker Masters 2024 in London, Britain, Jan. 8, 2024. (Photo by Zhai Zheng/Xinhua)

China's Ding Junhui was eliminated from the World Snooker Xi'an Grand Prix after losing to Alfie Burden of England 5-4 in the first round here on Monday.

Burden held a 2-2 draw with Ding before the first intermission. In the fifth frame, Burden scored 81 points consecutively, taking a 3-2 lead. Ding leveled up with an 88-0 win in the sixth frame. Then the players won one frame each, bringing a decider frame to the game.

In the ninth frame, Burden dominated the upper hand since the beginning. Although Ding kept cutting the deficits in the midway of the frame, his error choice made him to fail to advance.

Ding's old rival, British snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan, advanced to the second round after seeing off Wang Yuchen of Hong Kong, China 5-0.

When facing Wang, the Rocket dominated the table since the beginning of the clash. The 48-year-old veteran only suffered some setback in the third frame, but he adjusted his situation and bagged an easy win without any replies from Wang.

"I've played pretty terrible for two years, so every match is felt rubbish. I've just got to try and look at longer term to try and play my way out of it. But you just have to keep showing up and trying doing your best," he said.

"I'm looking forward to it, the longer I can stand. All the more dinners I can have here in China should be good. I just come for dinner, the people and the culture; snooker is a bonus," O'Sullivan added.

After Monday's games, Mark Selby and Zhang Anda won in the first round, while Mark Williams, Judd Trump, and Chinese players Si Jiahui, Gong Chenzhi and Lyu Haotian secured their positions in the third round, making last 32.

The event will conclude on August 25. 

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