SNOOKER: Ding too strong for Robertson (original) (raw)

CHINESE teenager Ding Junhui continued his irresistible form to move stylishly into the semi-finals of the Travis Perkins UK Championship at York last night.

The 18-year-old, who won the China Open as a wild-card entry last season, won the battle of the young guns 9-5 against Australian rising star Neil Robertson and showed his impressive break-building is undoubtedly good enough to capture the sport's second most prestigious ranking title.

In his three previous matches at the final stages of the tournament Ding had conceded a total of only eight frames as he swept away Anthony Hamilton, Jimmy White and Paul Hunter, and this emphatic performance confirmed he was anything but flattered by those results.

Breaks of 102, 77 and 65 helped the Shanghai youngster to a 5-3 lead at the interval and he never looked like being pegged back on the resumption, extending his advantage to 8-4 before wrapping it up with a 92 to overturn a 36-point lead for Robertson in frame 14.

Ding's semi-final opponent will be world number 14 Joe Perry, who reached the last four for the second consecutive year with a 9-8 success against Stuart Bingham.

Apart from when Perry led 2-0 there was never more than a frame between the pair and after he took control of the last, an excellent long red from off the baulk cushion put it out of Bingham's grasp.

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry rekindle their rivalry in York today in a semi-final that evokes memories of snooker's golden era.

The game's two most successful players, who have won this title 11 times between them, go head to head in York 15 years after they last fought out the final at a time when the Scot was seizing the mantle as the dominant force.

In 1989 Hendry triumphed 16-12 over Davis to capture his first UK crown, and 12 months later, he again came out on top 16-15 in a classic confrontation that was Davis' most recent appearance in the final of the second most prestigious ranking event.

It is nine years since Hendry achieved the last of his five victories in this event, although he has been runner-up twice subsequently.