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THE MASTERS
Venue: Wembley Arena Date: 9-16 January Coverage: Live action & highlights on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website; updates and reports on BBC Radio 5 live and online; watch again on iPlayer; full details of BBC coverage
Ding Junhui opened up a 6-2 lead against Marco Fu after a pulsating start to the all-Asian Masters final.
China's Ding roared to a 2-0 lead with breaks of 120 and 74 but a nervy Fu settled to make a cool 80 and then wasted chances to steal the fourth.
Hong Kong's Fu pulled it back to 4-2 with an 82 but as the match went scrappy, Ding strode ahead with a 60 and 66.
The match resumes at 2010 GMT on BBC Two with 10 frames needed to win.
Ding, Masters runner-up in 2007, is hunting his fifth major title and also the chance to gain revenge on the player who beat him to a gold medal at last November's Asian Games in Guangzhou.
Some suggested the Chinese cueman, runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in this prestigious tournament in 2007, would be the one to suffer from nerves with over 100 million people reported to be watching the clash in China alone.
However, the 23-year-old, who made his Masters debut in 2004 with a wildcard entry, stormed out in front of the noisy Wembley crowd to smash in a 120 and then a 74 to open up a two-frame advantage.
But Fu, who bounced back from being 4-1 down to beat Mark Allen in the semi-finals, clawed his way back with an 80 and had chances in an enthralling fourth frame but lost his way on the brown as a relieved Ding secured a 3-1 lead.
Sloppy errors crept their way into the game and it was Ding who edged ahead 4-1, before Fu produced a nerveless run of 82 with the aid of a fluked blue.
The high standard of potting witnessed in the opening four frames slipped away and with Fu wasting several chances to get back into the encounter, Ding surged ahead to leave himself within four frames of a famous victory.
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Venue: Wembley Arena Date: 9-16 January Coverage: Live action & highlights on BBC Two, Red Button and BBC Sport website; updates and reports on BBC Radio 5 live and online; watch again on iPlayer; full details of BBC coverage
Ding Junhui opened up a 6-2 lead against Marco Fu after a pulsating start to the all-Asian Masters final.
China's Ding roared to a 2-0 lead with breaks of 120 and 74 but a nervy Fu settled to make a cool 80 and then wasted chances to steal the fourth.
Hong Kong's Fu pulled it back to 4-2 with an 82 but as the match went scrappy, Ding strode ahead with a 60 and 66.
The match resumes at 2010 GMT on BBC Two with 10 frames needed to win.
Ding, Masters runner-up in 2007, is hunting his fifth major title and also the chance to gain revenge on the player who beat him to a gold medal at last November's Asian Games in Guangzhou.
Some suggested the Chinese cueman, runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in this prestigious tournament in 2007, would be the one to suffer from nerves with over 100 million people reported to be watching the clash in China alone.
However, the 23-year-old, who made his Masters debut in 2004 with a wildcard entry, stormed out in front of the noisy Wembley crowd to smash in a 120 and then a 74 to open up a two-frame advantage.
But Fu, who bounced back from being 4-1 down to beat Mark Allen in the semi-finals, clawed his way back with an 80 and had chances in an enthralling fourth frame but lost his way on the brown as a relieved Ding secured a 3-1 lead.
Sloppy errors crept their way into the game and it was Ding who edged ahead 4-1, before Fu produced a nerveless run of 82 with the aid of a fluked blue.
The high standard of potting witnessed in the opening four frames slipped away and with Fu wasting several chances to get back into the encounter, Ding surged ahead to leave himself within four frames of a famous victory.
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