Born in China, made in Sheffield, as Masters champion Ding eyes Crucible

Ding Junhui returned to his home in Sheffield yesterday knowing the pressure is increasing on him to turn his undoubted talent into World Championship form.

Fresh from his biggest pay day, a 150,000 cheque for lifting the Ladbrokes Mobile Masters on Sunday evening, Chinese superstar Ding has failed to reach even the quarter-final stage at the Crucible.

Having lived in Sheffield for the last eight years, using the city as his base during the snooker season, he can hardly claim to be unfamiliar with the surroundings.

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Questioned about his surprisingly poor record at the Crucible, Ding said: "I need more experience in the long matches. I tend to lose concentration for two or three frames so I need to learn how to keep playing well for longer. I will try to at least get to the quarter-finals this year, but it is so hard.

"I'm not worrying about that now. I've got confidence for the next tournament."

Ding beat Marco Fu 10-4 in the first ever all-Asian final, and pinpointed the 11th frame as key to thwarting a fightback from his Hong Kong opponent.

"When he got to 6-4 he was playing well, and I had lost my cue action," said World No 4 Ding. "I was lucky to go 7-4 ahead, that made a big difference. It was the most important frame, it changed everything. I was more confident after that."