CCTV9英语新闻：WPBSA China Open: Ding Junhui eliminated for in final qualifying round

It's been a tough few weeks for the world number 16, Ding Junhui, who has been travelling almost non-stop between Europe and China. After the Welsh Open, Ding returned to the PRC for a pool tournament and then went straight back to Manchester for the PTC final, only to turn around again for this tournament. And after a flight delay, Ding only arrived in Beijing on Sunday leaving him no time to rest before facing Scotland's Lee Walker in the final round of qualifying on Monday.

 

Last year at the Welsh Open, Walker was able to upset Ding 4 frames to 1 and he has a chance for another upset here in China. And when Ding misses this straightforward pink, Walker would go on to build a 3-0 lead.

 

In the fourth frame, Ding finally gets into stride and rolls in a break of 136 to cut the deficit to 3-1. But Walker doesn't seem worried.

 

After the interval, Ding returns to his poor form and Walker takes the fifth frame, leaving the Chinese on the edge of elimination.

 

In the sixth, Ding makes a crucial mistake on the pink that costs him the match. Two-time champion Ding is eliminated 5-1, ousted in qualifying for the first time ever at the China Open.

 

"I've traveled a lot lately, and at the beginning it was fine, but now I'm at a stage where I can't keep up. I've been trying my best to rest more whenever I had the chance, but in fact it left me with no time to practice," Ding said.

 

World No.71 ousts Chinese in qualifying

 

Also suffering from jet lag is Ding's compatriot, Liang Wenbo who made the trip back from England on the same flight. And in the final round of qulaifying, he would be facing Englishman Peter Lines who is ranked at number 71 in the world.

 

Liang would clearly show the effects of the travel which led to many mistakes. But Liang would manage to keep pace with Lines in the first 4 frames when the match was even at 2 apiece.

 

However after the short break, Liang would lose his touch and Lines took advantage to win the fifth frame. Line who would also be feeling the jet lag made, his share of errors, but those from the Chinese proved the more costly as Lines claimed the sixth frame 56-27 before winning the seventh to complete a 5-2 victory.