World Championship 2023: Ding Junhui leads Hossein Vafaei, Stuart Bingham downs David Gilbert to reach last 16
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Updated 16/04/2023 at 15:07 GMT
China's Ding Junhui emerged ahead of Hossein Vafaei at the midway stage of their World Championship snooker clash, taking a 5-4 advantage. Elsewhere, Stuart Bingham is into the last 16 with yet another career win over David Gilbert. The 2015 Crucible champion extended his head-to-head record over the Angry Farmer to 13-0 as he recovered from a slow start to win 10-4.
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Ding Junhui holds a narrow 5-4 lead over Hossein Vafaei midway through their compelling first-round World Championship encounter, while former Crucible champion Stuart Bingham recovered from a nervy start to continue his remarkable run against David Gilbert with a 10-4 victory that sent him safely into the last 16.
Bingham, a 2015 world champion, found himself 3-1 down but battled back with five frames in a row to take a 6-3 lead by the end of play on Saturday.
Gilbert quickly pulled a frame back when action resumed on Sunday morning, only for Bingham to motor to victory with three consecutive breaks of over 50 and a final 98.
The result extends Bingham’s run of dominance against Gilbert, taking his head-to-head record to 13-0.
The 46-year-old hasn’t been in his best form this season, reaching just one quarter-final at a ranking event, but he’s aiming to finish the campaign on a high at a venue where he has fond memories.
Up next for Bingham is a clash with Mark Allen or Fan Zhengyi.
Bingham tore out of the blocks with a century break of 108 in the opening frame, but Gilbert issued a superb response by taking the next three with breaks of 60, 90 and a marvellous match-best 121.
The 14th seed had to dig deep to avoid an upset and steadily wrestled the momentum back in his favour, winning five consecutive frames before play came to an end on Saturday, the last with a break of 87 – his best since the opener.
Gilbert needed to start well when the match resumed on Sunday morning and got off to the perfect start by reducing the gap to two, but breaks of 54, 55 and 59 put Bingham one frame from victory as he hit his stride once again.
The 46-year-old finished with a flourish, falling just two points short of his second century as he produced a 98 break.
Elsewhere, former world No. 1 Ding has a slender 5-4 lead in his first-round tie with Vafaei at the midway stage, with the winner set to face world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan next.
Ding, seeded 16th, took a lengthy opening frame before doubling up with a 72 clearance as Vafaei was caught cold, the Iranian potting just three balls as he went 2-0 down.
Vafaei pulled one back by edging an epic 40-minute third frame thanks to a huge slice of luck with a decisive fluke on the pink, before levelling things up at the mid-session interval with a 66 break.
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'What a way to win a frame!' - Vafaei wins 40 minute frame with 'mammoth fluke'
A sparkling 134 clearance from Ding put him back in charge and the UK Championship runner-up gathered momentum from there, claiming three of the first four post-interval frames.
However, Vafaei produced an 87 break – his best of the match to that point - to ensure that only a one-frame gap will separate the players when play resumes on Monday at 10am.
Sunday's action also sees eighth seed Mark Williams faces Jimmy Robertson, while Neil Robertson convincingly beat Wu Yize, in a match that saw the Australian hit two 146 breaks.
The weekend's play concludes when Luca Brecel plays Ricky Walden and Ali Carter comes up against Jak Jones in the evening session.
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