Mark Selby versus Ding Junhui: 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship Quarter-final Preview
The Englishman, Mark Selby, and China’s Ding Junhui will face each other in their quarter-final clash of the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield
on Tuesday, April 26. Both cueists qualified for the quarter-final stage after beating Stephen Hendry 13-4 and Stuart Bingham 13-12 respectively.
The 27-year-old Selby has been performing brilliantly in the championship since his first match against Jimmy Robertson. The world number four defeated Robertson by 10-1 in his first-round
match convincingly. He then beat the veteran Stephen Hendry in the second round with 13-4. He also made a record of most century breaks in the match against Hendry.
The comeback king, Ding Junhui, sparked his cue brilliantly in this tournament and reached to the quarter-final spot beating Jamie Burnett 10-2 and Stuart Bingham 13-12 in the first and
second round respectively. The Chinese Sensation bounced back into the game strongly when he was 9-12 down to Bingham in the second round and stunned the Englishman with his extraordinary snooker skills.
Head-to-Head Statistics
Selby compiled six tons of 125, 108, 129, 100, 127 and 117 in his second-round match against Hendry and his position is quite strong at the moment. The Jester from Leicester, Selby, has
tremendous break building skills and his performance in the current season and the championship makes him one of the top favourites to grab the title.
He holds a superb record in the current season with 56 match victories out of 74 at a match winning rate of 75.5 per cent while he has a frame winning percentage of 63 as he has grabbed
313 frames out of 497. He said after beating Hendry, “If I'm playing the way I'm playing then I've every chance, no matter who I play, but it will be a tough game.”
The Star of East, Ding, is quite good at break-building as he has a record of compiling one of the greatest of all centuries in just five seasons; a record that he shares with the ‘Rocket’
Ronnie O’Sullivan. He has a unique feature of bouncing back strongly during the game and wrap up the table in his favour. He did the same to Bingham after he was 9-12 down to him.
Ding’s performance in the current season is quite good, but it is a bit lower than that of Selby. His match wins are 27 out of 37 with a match winning ratio of 73 percent, while he has
clinched 152 frame victories out of 264 at a frame winning rate of 57.6 percent.
The 24-year-old Chinese commented about his quarter-final clash about Selby, "It will be very difficult against Mark Selby. I watched him play Stephen Hendry and he played very well."
Prediction
Selby and Ding have faced each other on the snooker table five times in the last two seasons. Selby clinched three victories over Ding while the Jiangsu potter could win only two. The
odds here favour Selby of course and his performance in the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Champion proves he can be the one to take the title.
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