LONDON – Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui scored a vital morale boosting win here on Monday as he edged out former world champion Mark Williams 6-4 in their Masters first round match. Ding, 23, had gone into the clash badly out of sorts having lost both his Asian Games title – to Marco Fu – and then his UK Championship crown last month, bowing out in the second round. Neither Ding – ranked four in the world – nor Williams played great snooker in what is the sport’s leading invitational tournament, but the Chinese star managed to have the better of the opening exchanges and gained a 5-2 lead in the best of 11 frames match. Williams fought back in typically dour fashion to win the next 2 frames but when he made an error in the 10th frame it was game over. Ding will play another former world champion in the 2nd round after Scotsman Graeme Dott defeated compatriot and world top John Higgins 6-4.
