Ding Junhui held off a strong challenge from compatriot Zhou Yuelong to win 10-5 and progress to the second round of the Betfred World Championship.

The 12-time ranking winner will be pleased with a solid start in his bid for World Championship glory. He became the first Asian player to reach the Crucible final last year, where he succumbed to a 18-14 loss against Mark Selby. Ding will be hoping he can go one better this year.

Zhou can take heart from a spirited challenge, having started the day 7-2 behind. The teenager won the 2015 World Cup as part of China’s B team alongside Yan Bingtao and both players head up a raft of young talent breaking through from Asia.

It was a fast start for Zhou, who took the opening two frames of the afternoon with runs of 60 and 93.  Despite a strong showing from the 19-year-old, the story of the session saw Ding keep him at arm’s length. China’s top player compiled a run of 67 to extend his lead to 8-4.

Zhou got another frame on the board in the 15th to pull back within three, but the damage was done in the first session as Ding got over the line for a 10-5 win.

Ding said: “I hope I can have a good run here this season. This is the first game and last year I had to go through qualifying. The first game is always difficult, but when you win it gets you ready for the next round. You have to relax and play and I’m still learning and trying hard.

“I think Zhou will come back stronger next year, but for me it is about staying in the moment. Last year I got a lot of experience reaching the final and now I am more confident.”

Rory McLeod staged a fightback in the other match of the afternoon, as he wrested the lead from an in-form Judd Trump to take a 5-4 advantage going into the final session.

The Ace in the Pack is one of the favourites for this year’s event, having arrived at the Crucible off the back of one of his best ever seasons. He’s claimed silverware at the European Masters and Players Championship.

Trump charged to a 4-0 lead and it looked to be business as usual for the seven-time ranking event winner. However the return from the interval marked a shift in momentum.

McLeod battled back with breaks of 72, 41, 43 and 77 to snatch a slender advantage going into tomorrow’s concluding session.

Elsewhere, Liang Wenbo recorded a hard fought 10-7 defeat of Stuart Carrington to book a mouth-watering clash with compatriot Ding Junhui in the second round of the Betfred World Championship.

The win sees Liang progress past the opening match at the Crucible for the first time since 2008, when he made the quarter-finals. The Firecracker last faced his second round opponent Ding at the Sheffield venue in 2009, he suffered a 10-8 defeat.

Carrington came into this evening with a slender advantage. However, he secured his own piece of history in the opening session. He joined an elite club of five players to have made three consecutive centuries at the Crucible. The only others to have achieved the feat are John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson.

Liang won the opening two frames of this evening’s concluding session to take the lead. There was then an extraordinary 12th frame which came down to the wire. The pair engaged in a black ball battle, which extended beyond 15 minutes. However, it was Carrington who eventually potted a steely long black to level at 6-6.

English Open Champion Liang then compiled a run of 71 to restore his lead and from that point the nerves set in for both players.

Carrington leveled and the match looked set to go the distance, but Liang began to get the better of the increasingly fragmented frames.

Neither player managed to find the fluidity which was prevalent earlier on in the tie. Liang looked the more clinical and managed to take the following three frames to progress 10-7.

Meanwhile, 2006 Crucible king Graeme Dott built a 6-3 lead over tenth seed Ali Carter.

Dott has dropped to 29th in the world after failing to reach the last 16 of a ranking event so far this season, but he showed improved form in the qualifying rounds last week and is now four frames away from knocking out Carter.

Glasgow’s Dott took a 4-0 lead despite a top break of just 47, as Carter struggled to settle. Essex cueman Carter got going after the interval and recovered to 4-2 with runs of 53 and 48. Dott made a 50 in taking frame seven before Carter’s 76 made it 5-3. The last of the session went to Dott to give him a handy overnight advantage. They resume on Wednesday at 2.30pm.