Crucible latest: Ding cruises to Sheffield win

The Chinese star, who lives in Sheffield, seemed right at home at the Crucible Theatre as he took an overnight 8-1 lead against Jamie Burnett.

The duo shared the opening two frames to nudge the match to 9-2, with Ding needing just one more frame to clinch a second-round spot against either Peter Ebdon or Stuart Bingham.

Ding’s record at the Crucible is poor considering his undoubted quality. He has crashed out at the second round stage for the last three seasons, twice to Stephen Hendry, then Shaun Murphy last year.

Ding took just over an hour to wrap up victory with a 71 break to complete an easy 10-2 triumph.