Ding eyes world title after beating Higgins

China's Ding Junhui insisted he'd yet to hit top form after moving into the quarter-finals of the World Championships for just the third time after battling back to defeat John Higgins 13-9 in Sheffield on Saturday.

World number three Ding, beaten six times in the opening two rounds of the tournament since his debut in 2007, trailed 5-1 and 7-5, but eventually saw off the four-time world champion to book a last eight clash against Judd Trump or Marco Fu.

The 28-year-old has been based in Sheffield for the last decade but the Crucible Theatre has rarely seen his best performances, with Ding's only semi-final appearance coming in 2011 when he lost to Trump.

"I'm playing well, and keep scoring heavily, and won frames after he made 50 breaks," said Ding. "I hope I'm going to win the tournament. I believe I can...I have the form to win any tournament.

"I think I can play better."

Higgins was in no doubt about Ding's world-title chances, saying of his opponent's recovery from 5-1 down: "I missed a red, and from then on he was clinical.

"He never let his head drop, and he came back into it ... and then played clinical, clinical stuff," added the Scot, who compared Ding's play to that of snooker great Steve Davis.

- 'Ready to win' -

"He reminds you of Steve Davis in his prime, his cue-ball control," said Higgins. "He makes everything look ridiculously easy, and he made a couple of pressure clearances.

"I think it probably means he's maybe ready to win the world title," the Scot added.

"He's a big, big danger to win this tournament, I think."

Last season Ding won a record-equalling five ranking titles to extend his career haul to 11, but this has been a barren campaign for the leading light of Asian snooker.

When Higgins opened up his substantial leads over Ding, it seemed the champion of 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011 would condemn the Chinese star to more Crucible misery.

But instead Ding struck back and he led 9-7 heading into the final session, nudging closer to the winning line with breaks of 63 and 89.

Higgins held up Ding's triumph by pinching a tight frame to close to 12-9, but he missed a key brown in the next, when trailing by 28 points.

That put Ding in control of his destiny. When Ding dropped in the penultimate red, he held a 44-point cushion, with 35 left on the table.

Misfortune struck as Ding glided off the last red when escaping from a snooker and the white fell into the yellow pocket.

Higgins had a free ball, with the red hidden by the brown, and Higgins knew he would close to 12-10 should he clear the table.

But he missed a testing pink off the remaining red and Ding was soon celebrating his first quarter-final appearance in Sheffield since 2013.

Higgins wasn't the only Scot to lose at the Crucible on Saturday, with 2006 world champion Graeme Dott beaten 13-5 by England's Stuart Bingham.

"I've got some good memories of this place, but I've had some thumpings as well," said Dott.

"That didn't really feel like 13-5. But obviously it is, so it's still a slaughter."

Meanwhile England's Barry Hawkins moved into the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 13-11 victory over Mark Allen of Northern Ireland.

In matches still to be completed, five-times world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan established a 5-3 lead over Matthew Stevens while Australia's Neil Robertson, who beat Dott in the 2010 Crucible final, went 6-2 in front against two-time runner-up Ali Carter.
Source: AFP