Shocked Ding suffers first-round exit
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 22, 2014
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Ding Junhui shocked by Michael Wasley at World Snooker Championship. |
Michael Wasley scored one of the biggest first round shocks in Crucible history by beating world No 2 Ding Junhui 10-9 at the Snooker World Championship.
China's Ding is the player of the season so far having won a record-equalling five ranking titles, but his dream of finishing the campaign by capturing his first world title failed to survive beyond the first hurdle.
World number 73 Wasley, playing his second season on the main tour having come through Q School in 2012, has never previously been beyond the last 32 of a ranking event. But he played superb snooker to win four matches in the qualifiers at Pond's Forge, culminating in a 10-9 final round defeat of Robert Milkins which was settled on a respotted black in the last frame. Now Wasley can look forward to a match against Mark Davis or Dominic Dale on the biggest stage of all.
Ding led 6-3 overnight and was on the brink of victory at 9-8 when the match was pulled off. Both players were forced to wait four hours before returning to the arena. Wasley quickly grasped the initiative with a brilliant break of 103 to force the decider.
The last frame took 40 minutes and both players had chances. Ding led 53-46 when he failed to dislodge the last red from a side cushion. That led to a brief safety exchange, which ended when Wasley fluked the red to a centre pocket, allowing him to clear to the blue to go 15 points ahead. Still it looked as if there could be another twist as Ding laid three tough snookers on the pink, but each time Wasley was equal to the test, and he finally potted the pink to bring the Crucible crowd to its feet.
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