At the UK Snooker Championship, A player defeats reigning champion Mark Allen in an exciting final-frame match.

At the UK Snooker Championship, A player defeats reigning champion Mark Allen in an exciting final-frame match.

In a thrilling opening match of this year’s UK Snooker Championship in York, Player battled his way out of bed to defeat reigning champion Mark Allen in a last frame decider.

At the UK Snooker Championship on Saturday in York, Ding Junhui defeated defending champion Mark Allen in an exciting final-frame thriller.

The previous three-time champion said on Saturday morning that he was on the verge of withdrawing from the competition after waking up with a high fever and periods of vertigo.

But Ding somehow steadied himself to haul back a 4-2 deficit then summon a nerveless 102 clearance to chisel a 6-5 victory in a first-round repeat of last year’s final, in which the Chinese player blew a sizeable lead to lose 10-7.

“In the morning I thought about pulling out because I couldn’t get out of bed,” Ding added. “I tried to wake up when my alarm went off, but I couldn’t.

My fever reached 39 degrees, making it difficult for me to move normally or to the venue. But since I’m here for the event, I believe that’s why I wanted to compete, so I’ll just focus on playing well. It was yet another incredible chapter in Ding’s association with the second-biggest tournament in the sport, which started in 2005 when he unexpectedly emerged victorious in a run of major victories, becoming the first foreign champion of the Championship.

Both players made blunders over the first four frames of the suspenseful encounter, which took a while to heat up before the mid-session break.

After a chaotic sixth frame in which both players missed excellent opportunities, Allen was the first to pick up his game. He took advantage of a second chance in the fifth frame and cleared the black for 106.

However, just as Ding was starting to lose hope, he used all of his UK experience to launch three consecutive counterattacking frames that put him within one win of an improbable triumph.

The Chinese player was the first to exhibit nervousness; he missed a black off the spot, giving Allen the opportunity to tie the match, which he duly did with a decisive break of 70.

In the final, Allen had the first opportunity but he missed an easy red to the middle. Much to Allen’s surprise, Ding managed to stave off illness long enough to score his maiden century of the game and guarantee his spot in the last 16.

“It’s definitely one that got away, and not just because of the red in the last frame,” Allen remarked.

“To be honest, I thought I performed okay today and I felt like I handled all the difficult tasks with ease. I thought I had total control over the game, and if Ding is being truthful in his evaluation, he’ll probably be perplexed as to how he prevailed.

I recently lost in the UK Championships, but I’ve played far worse, so it’s difficult to accept. Perhaps I should rewatch this one to see out what transpired, as I always felt in control until I lost.”

Mark Williams acknowledged that he was never able to get out of second gear, but he managed to defeat Fan Zhengyi 6-4 and advance with Ding to the round of 16.

The Welshman is eager to avoid the mistakes that hindered his chances of making it a treble of victories in previous years. His best break was an 86 to get over the line. He is a two-time UK champion.

In the past few years, this tournament hasn’t really benefited me,” Williams said. “I had to stop every few frames last year after dozing off on live TV once during COVID.

“But this time, in between games, I’ll return home and attempt to lift the UK’s curse. Everything was beautiful, including the reception, except for my play, which was fantastic. Despite some difficulty, I really enjoyed it.