China's Ding ahead as he aims to join Yan in World Championships second round
- Ding, however, lost 18-14 in the 2016 final to England's Mark Selby and has long been tipped to be China's first world champion.
LONDON: China's Ding Junhui established a narrow 5-4 lead over former title-holder Stuart Bingham on Monday as he looked to join compatriot Yan Bingtao in the second round of snooker's World Championship.
Ding had a difficult start against Bingham, the 2015 world champion.
Although he had to come through qualifying after dropping out of the world's top 16, the Englishman made a fine break of 131 in the opening frame and was 3-1 ahead at the mid-session interval thanks to a contribution of 129.
But world number nine Ding responded with clearances of 105 and 86 before a fluked black saw him take a hard-fought ninth frame of a match that will be played to a finish at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on Tuesday.
No Asian player has yet won snooker's prestigious title, with Canada's Cliff Thorburn (1980) and Australia's Neil Robertson (2010), the only world champions from outside Britain and Ireland in the modern era.
Ding, however, lost 18-14 in the 2016 final to England's Mark Selby and has long been tipped to be China's first world champion.
Meanwhile Tian Pengfei saw his hopes of a shock upset win over John Higgins dashed as the four-times world champion won six frames in a row to clinch a 10-7 success.
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