Ryan Day fights back to beat Ding Junhui in Round 1 of 2012 World Snooker Championship
After making a superb comeback from a position where his defeat was inevitable, Wales’ Ryan Day hit the victory over the 2012 Welsh Open winner, China’s Ding Junhui by the score line of 10-9 in the opening round of the 2012 World Snooker Championship at
the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The Welshman has made a major upset in the World Championship line up and has become the third Welsh potter to book second round spot after Jamie Jones and Matthew Stevens. Day felt very happy after winning the match and is now looking to earn a better place
in the rankings after winning the World Championship.
While speaking to World Snooker, Day said, “I'm hoping it's going to be a huge win because it's been a bit of a struggle for the last couple of years. I found a bit of fight and determination and managed to get back into the game and held myself together
well at the end.”
The Welshman added, “The pressure was really high. I was concentrating on breathing properly and was thinking about winning it. From 9-6 I drew inspiration from my daughters. My daughter believes if she tells me to win I lose and if she tells me to lose
I win.”
After winning the 2012 Welsh Open snooker tournament, Junhui clinched his strong position in the professional circuit and was considered favourite for this match as he was on top of his form.
However, the Chinese was not able to maintain his form in the event and tumbled down in the end at the hands of Day. The clash became very close in the final sessions as both potters were trying their best to hit the lead.
At the end of first two sessions on Day 1 proceedings, Day was dominating the game with 6-4 score line and it seemed that Junhui had less chance to claim the victory. But the Star of the East, in his particular style, made a classy comeback with five straight
wins firing some terrific breaks of 38, 52, 56, 69 and 57 to reach 6-9.
At this point, the competitions seemed to have ended in Junhui’s favour but the spectators saw a stunning comeback from Day as he took four consecutive sets to win the match 10-6.
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