China's Liang and Ding to fight for quarterfinal place at snooker worlds

China's number two Liang Wenbo fought back from 4-5 down in the first session to record a 10-7 vicotry over Stuart Carrington in the first round of the World Snooker Championship here on Tuesday.

Liang will next face fellow Chinese and world number four Ding Junhui for a quarterfinal berth.

It was the first win for Liang, the year's England Open champion, at the Crucible since he made the last eight in 2008. The 30-year-old was defeated by Ding in the second round here in 2009.

Liang won the opening two frames of the second session for a 6-5 lead. Carrington fought back to level before Liang went ahead again at 7-6.

Carrington leveled again at 7-7 but Liang managed to take the following three frames to seal the match 10-7.

Liang said: "Today I played well at times and not very well at others. I started quickly tonight and that was after Stuart got three centuries in the first session to put me under a lot of pressure.

"I wanted to control the table. I wasn't bothered about scoring heavily, I just wanted to win. I knew that after three or four years of drawing a hard first match, this time I got a player I had a chance against.

"Me and Ding are very good friends. I'll just enjoy the game and give the fans a game to enjoy, it should be a good match."

Ding, who became the first Asian player to reach the Crucible final last year, reached the second round earlier on Tuesday by beating compatriot Zhou Yuelong 10-5. Endit