Kyren Wilson comes from behind to beat Ding Junhui in a classic World Championship battle at the Crucible

ByEurosport

Updated 20/04/2022 at 22:02 GMT

Kyren Wilson edged a thrilling match against Ding Junhui to set up a meeting with Stuart Bingham in the second round. It is Wilson's seventh consecutive first round match won at the Crucible and he did it in style, making five 50+ breaks and two centuries against one of the strongest qualifiers in the competition.

Kyren Wilson is into the second round of the World Championship after edging past Ding Junhui 10-8 in a thrilling contest at the Crucible.

'The Warrior' continued to hang on in the match before taking the lead for the first time in the match at 8-7. Although Ding pulled a frame back to set up a nervy finish, Wilson would take the next two to book a spot in the next round.

The 2020 finalist will play Stuart Bingham, who beat Lyu Haotian 10-5 on Tuesday, in the morning session on Sunday.

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"It had all the makings of being a top match," Wilson told Eurosport afterwards.

"There's been many good players that have come through this year. Ding has been right up there. Class-wise he is definitely a top-16 player so I'm delighted to get through that match.

"Not in a disrespectful way I thought it was a good draw because I fancied coming through it and that it would set me up for a big tournament. You have to be a good player to beat Ding so I didn't mind really."

Ding held a 5-4 lead heading into the evening session, but it was Wilson who took the opening frame.

Ding was on the brink of leading 6-4 in a 40-minute frame, but after he rattled the jaws with a mid-range green, Wilson sunk a green, brown, pink and black to level the tie at 5-5.

The 2016 finalist did go in front, though, with a break of 91 to regain his advantage, but Wilson responded quickly with a break of 85.

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Ding was starting to look more confident as he moved around the table he produced a break of 122 to edge back in front.

But Wilson was on the prowl and he turned the match on its head with breaks of 99 and an even more impressive 126 to move within two frames of victory.

Ding responded with an emphatic break of 117, but a break of 65 put Wilson within touching distance of round two.

A quite fabulous long red at 9-8 down appeared to keep Ding alive in the match. He was afforded the chance to take one pink and one black off the final two reds, but he missed a pink to the centre pocket to spell the end of his World Championship campaign while cementing Wilson's progression.

'Brilliant match' - Wilson beats Ding in epic at World Championship

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