London: Despite feeling unwell, China’s Ding Junhui edged reigning champion Mark Allen 6-5 in the opening round at the UK Snooker Championship in York.
As last year’s finalist who lost to Allen 10-7, three-time UK champion Ding needed to win two qualifying matches this year to set up a clash with Allen, reports Xinhua.
The 36-year-old Ding looked struggled for having a fever, but surprisingly managed to edge Allen 6-5 to reach the second round.
Allen admitted that the match seemed strange to him.
“I felt like I was in complete control in so many frames and kept losing the frames I was ahead in,” the world No.4 told the World Snooker Tour website.
In other opening round matches on Saturday, veteran Mark Williams saw off China’s youngster Fan Zhengyi 6-4. Tom Ford overcame a 5-1 deficit to defeat Thai player Noppon Saengkham 6-5. Jamie Clarke also fought until the deciding frame to oust Kyren Wilson.
–IANS