The story appears on

Page A8

April 7, 2014

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » Snooker

Ding ties Hendry’s record with Beijing win

CHINESE snooker ace Ding Junhui tied Stephen Hendry’s five ranking title record in one season after overcoming world No. 1 Neil Robertson 10-5 in China Open final in Beijing yesterday.

The title was also Ding’s second in this tournament after winning in 2005.

Before the China Open, Ding had won Shanghai Masters, Indian Open, International Championship and German Masters.

“Robertson showed toughness, especially during the second half, Ding said.

“I felt energetic from the start, concentrated on restraining his performance and tried to score as many as I could, which paid off during the second,” he said.

In the best-of-19 final, Ding built up a comfortable 7-2 lead after the first half, making the second less vague last night.

“I suffered few turnovers in the first. I didn’t play at the same level as that in the second, while trying to reduce his chances,” said the 2014 China Open champion.

After Ding took the first two frames with breaks of 87 and 61, both sides had an intense third. Ding had 48 points in a row, before his opponent came back to make it 58-60, leaving the last black on the table.

Then Robertson missed the most crucial black, slipping away chances to Ding for “killing” the frame 67-58. Robertson pulled one frame back with a top break of 102 in the eighth, while suffering turnovers shortly afterwards, giving Ding another chance to enlarge the margin again.

Robertson and Ding halved the first four victories during the second half, giving Ding the championship point after the 13th frame.

The world’s top player saved one championship point with a 74-9 win in frame 14, before Ding finally secured the victory with 66 points in a row.

“Before this match, I know it would be an intense one, and there would be few chances for me to win. Ding played well today,” said Robertson.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend