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Ding lifts title at Snooker Masters

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-01-17 11:35

LONDON - Chinese sensation Ding Junhui defeated Marco Fu from China's Hong Kong 10-4 at Wembley Arena on Sunday, becoming the first ever Chinese to win the Snooker Masters.

"I'm still feeling it, I don't know what to say," the youngest player at the Masters said after winning the Chinese derby in style.

The 23-year-old Ding started the final brilliantly by taking the first two frames with breaks of 120 and 74, before Fu took one back with a break of 80.

Both players began to made mistakes later, but the 2007 runner-up Ding managed to edge the first time finalist Fu in the following two frames.

"The cue ball felt different because it began raining outside," Ding explained his lackluster performance in the late stage of the first half. "Sometimes the shots just didn't look like what I have expected."

Even though, Ding managed to overwhelm Fu by leading at 6-2 before the interval.

"I didn't feel good in the first session. The game was too tough for me and the damage was done," said Fu, who came from 1-4 down to knock out Mark Allen 6-4 in the semifinal on Saturday.

But Fu was sharp enough to win the first two frames after the interval before losing the crucial 11th frame and finally the whole match.

In the 11th frame, Fu made a tricky snooker on the yellow, which Ding failed to escape from five times. But the talented Ding made revenge soon by bringing the cue ball behind the black, seeing Fu sending the cue ball into pocket while he had to hit the pink ball. Then Ding was cool enough to pot both the pink and black, winning the frame 77-74.

"I was lucky to go 7-4 ahead, that made a big difference," said Ding. "It was the most important frame, it changed everything. I was more confident after that."