Chinese teenage snooker ace Ding Junhui spluttered to a first-round
exit at the Snooker Welsh Open as he was knocked out 5-1 by world
number 21 Jamie Cope.
This was Ding's second early exit in a row at major tournaments
after crashing out of the British Masters in January, losing to
former world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-3.
The first frame was slow and ponderous with Cope scoring the
first point in the fifth minute.? He never let Ding return to
the table though making a brilliant 115 break to clinch the first
frame.
Cope twice missed in the second to let Ding equalize with a
38-point break to take the frame 81-18.
Unfortunately, Cope was too good for the next three frames and
went into the mid-session break, leading 4-1.
Upon the restart, Cope was ruthless, matching Ding's 23-break
with a sharp 84 to take the frame and make Ding claim a
sooner-than-expected ticket home.
Jamie Cope
(CRI February 15, 2007)
