World Championship  - 1st Round - Men

J.Ding
10
-
M.Fu
9
-
ScoreCurrent frame
22/04/2008

Junhui Ding  

Nationality: CHINA
Date of birth: 01/04/1987
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Marco Fu  

Nationality: HONG KONG
Date of birth: 08/01/1978
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  • 10-9   Ding pots the black, 53 up with 51 left, Fu will need a snooker now... he has some fun with the last balls to win the frame and the match, 10-9 and great entertainment at the Crucible. He faces Steven Hendry in the second round and the pair walk off to a hearty applause from the audience.
  • 9-9   Fu tries to take the initiative with an agressive shot but it doesn't come off, the red rebounding against the pocket and away, and he sets up Ding nicely for a simple pot.
  • 9-9   Ding, leading 37-0, misses a fairly straightforward red in trying to avoid the brown... Fu snookers him with a quite excellent shot that puts the cue ball behind the green and, after weighting up all the options including a 50-50 smash, Ding tries to rebound it off three cushions but falls just short.
  • 9-9   And Fu takes the chance to level! 9-9 and it all comes down to a deciding frame, this has been some contest tonight.
  • 9-8   Ding with a miscalculation to pot the cue ball after bouncing heavily off the blue.
  • 9-8   Ding sits down with it at 60-17, having snookered Fu, who fouls and concedes the frame. 9-8 to Ding!
  • 8-8   Ding goes 35-18 ahead...
  • 8-8   Fu with a great clearance overcomes Ding to level at 8-8! Swings and roundabouts in this contest.
  • 8-7   A close-fought start to this frame, with the black well-protected and neither Ding nor Fu risking fouling to make it.
  • 8-7   Ding makes no mistake this time to clear the table and go back into the lead. 8-7 to the Chinese Dragon!
  • 7-7   Ding continues and works up a lead of 55 as the balance of power again swings, this time from Hong Kong towards 'mainland' China.
  • 7-7   Powerful shot from Ding pots the black and smashes open the reds to move 8-18 early in this frame.
  • 7-7   Alas he fails to rack up a century break by snookering himself on his final red, but nonetheless Ding levels the match at 7-7.
  • 6-7   And Ding is not going to let Fu have his own way tonight, breaking to 84 now...
  • 6-7   Play resumes after the interval, Fu breaks and Ding at the table and under pressure starts with a pot.
  • 6-7   Fu snookers himself early in this frame but Ding cannot exploit the error and Fu moves into a commanding lead to win the frame, 7-6 to the man from Hong Kong.
  • 6-6   After a stutter in which Fu spurns a chance to close the gap, Ding finishes him off and it's all-square again, 6 apiece.
  • 5-6   Fu with a wasted chance as he looks to get back into a frame poised at 47-20 to Ding, who makes it very difficult for Fu, who kisses the only available red and lines up Ding with a few options.
  • 5-6   But a conservative shot from Ding hands it back to Fu, who clears the table and takes the lead! From 5-1 down Fu now has a frame advantage, and I'm afraid to say that last one was all of Ding's (un)doing.
  • 5-5   A reprieve for Ding as, after closing the lead to 32, Fu makes it hard for himself with a contact on the yellow in potting a red and it's back with Ding.
  • 5-5   Oh dear, Ding misses a fairly simple black - that would have taken him 60 ahead with 59 left on the table. He realises afterwards that he has quite possibly messed it up. Terrible decision from Ding, in trying to break up two reds - when all he needed was to pot black - he could have handed it back to Fu. He must have miscounted.
  • 5-5   Ding now has a lead of 38, three reds lined up on one of the near corner pockets to give Ding some options. Good chance now for Ding to edge back in front.
  • 5-5   Ding with an attempt to pot a black which stops agonisingly short - indeed it rests hanging on the lip of the corner pocket. Fu follows up with a bad miss on an easy red, he went in hard to try and break up the cluster of reds behind but, in doing so, rattled the red against the pocket. Back to Ding then.
  • 5-5   So Fu fouls by potting the cue ball after notching another red, no mind as with a break of 96 he takes the first frame of the session to level the match! The fightback takes on more momentum.
  • 5-4   Fu is finding his rhythm, breaking with 80 and fancying the black somewhat as he runs away with the frame...
  • 5-4   After a cautious opening to this frame, Fu gets off the mark and sets himself up to pot the black, which he does.
  • 5-4   The match resumes at the Crucible!
  • -   So the second session of Ding v Fu starts at 19:00, with Ding holding a slender lead after Fu's fightback from 5-1 down.
  • -----   In the meantime, Mark SELBY has fought his way back into his match against Mark KING. Follow the exciting conclusion of that match with our LIVE comments right now!
  • 5-4   Yet another century break from FU, this time bang on 100 to win and end the session on a high! These two will be back in action on table two at 1900 GMT tonight, so be sure to come back for that one.
  • 5-3   FU has come from behind to lead for the third frame in a row, and is now 41-25 up.
  • 5-3   Those fouls help to put FU 25-7 behind, but that impenetrable cluster of reds persists. DING tries to pick one of the edge, but the long pot is wayward.
  • 5-3   The final frame of today's session gets underway. at 7-4 DING gets the cue ball rooted in the pack, anf FU twice fouls hiting away from the touching blls, hitting the black on the second occasion.
  • 5-3   FU goes on the offensive and goes 52-5 up with seven reds left to play. Sinking the black when it's on the blue's spot takes his break up to 81, and he makes 103 before he's done!
  • 5-2   Another unkind break of the reds, and DING is snookered up on the top cushion. He clatters the cue ball in off the back cushion, only for FU to tuck in a simple red.
  • 5-2   The man from Hong Kong rattles home the colours to reduce the gap to three frames.
  • 5-1   FU is finally getting some table time at 27-11 down. He grabs it with both hands clears away the reds to go 64-27 up.
  • 5-1   DING pots a pink but when it's replaced he finds himself trapped in the pack! He finds a way out with a nice pot into middle pocket.
  • 5-1   The Chinese doesn't look back and with another century break opens up a four frame lead. FU has barely featured since the break.
  • 4-1   DING has reverted into clinical mode now, picking off the well-spread pack with ruthless efficiency. A great shot with the rest puts him 40-2 up.
  • 4-1   FU rifles a red into the corner, but doesn't get any top-spin on the cue ball and it nestles into the ack rather than breaking it up.
  • 4-1   The referee has to reset the reds, and DING benefits going on to make a break of 91 to extend his lead even further.
  • 3-1   FU goes for the long pot on a red hiding behind the pink, but he just can't see enough of it and fouls via a miss.
  • 3-1   DING breaks off for the fifth frame in this first session.
  • 2-1   This one will nicely poised for the mid-session interval if Fu can draw the match level.
  • 2-1   FU is 50-64 up with just the pink and black left in play. This is crucial for FU now to avoid going 3-0 down. DING rattles it in! But he fails to knock the black off the back cushion with the rebound and the frame is FU's!
  • 2-0   DING gets the rub of the green again as FU sees his white rebound into the blue which goes into the corner pocket for the foul! It's a tense finish to the frame as DIG has to snooker off the green while he is just 14 behind.
  • 2-0   DING finally aims to get rid of that troublesome pink.. and it rattles out of the pocket! FU stretches his lead to 55-20, but DING is back on the table.
  • 2-0   FU is at the table, 24-12 up. Those reds are gradually getting picked off, but the pink is still up against the yellow. Whoever deals with that will surely take this frame.
  • 2-0   The pink is now resting up against the yellow, FU knocks away one of the reds before leaving in an excellent snooker behind the yellow and pink.
  • 2-0   There is an awful line of six reds behind the pink. Both men are avoiding it for the time being but DING is picking off those on the edge for the time being.
  • 2-0   The Chinese brings his score up to 62, but there are still enough points on the table for FU. He fails to take any so DING rockets in the final red. He misses the yellow but secures the frame without needing to clear up.
  • 1-0   DING sees a long red roll around the corner pocket, rebound off the pink and go in middle. He gets a round of applause, but why? He's back on the table 9-19 down and this time buries a another long red. Nothing flukey about that one.
  • 1-0   FU knocks the red in sensationally off the far cushion, getting just the right angle to cut it in behind the snookering yellow! But he misses a green with the rest, and DING steals in to take the opener!
  • 0-0   FU tries a delicate roll all the way up the table to reach the last red, but the cue ball stops millimetres short. He replays the shot, and this time gets it. DING stuns the red against the cushion and sends FU back down the table again!
  • 0-0   This is a testy opening frame from these two, and they are cancelling each other out with some sly snookers. DING finally gets some more points on the board but is forced to send a red off the back cushion up the table.
  • 0-0   DING clips in a perfectly-weighted pink, breaking up the remaining pack of reds. He misses a red in the middle pocket, but FU seems more concerned with going for the snooker than closing the frame, even though he is 45-14 up.
  • -   Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's coverage of today's action from the Crucible! Ding Junhai gets his campaign underway against Marco Fu... it should be a cracker!