China's Ding Junhui greets the audience after winning his first round match against Scotland's Anthony McGill at the World Snooker Championship 2019 in Sheffield, Britain on April 21, 2019. Ding Junhui won 10-7. (Xinhua/Craig Brough)
SHEFFIELD, England, April 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Ding Junhui beat Anthony Mcgill of Scotland 10-7 to reach the second round of the World Snooker Championship here on Sunday.
World 10th-ranked Ding, who led 6-3 after the first session on Saturday, made a tournament-high break of 134 and scores of 99 and 91 for a 9-5 lead. But McGill, who was crushed by Ding 13-4 in the second round here last year, made a brave fightback and managed to narrow the gap to 9-7.
Ding, the 2016 runner-up, gave his rival no chance in the 17th frame, making a break of 106 to seal the victory and reach the last 16 for the 10th time since he made his Crucible debut in 2007.
"I played OK today," Ding said. "Antony played very well and got more confident in the last few frames. I made some mistakes but gave him no chance in the last frame."
The 32-year-old will next face either world number seven Judd Trump or Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
"I don't worry about who I will play next," Ding said. "If I want to win the title, I need to beat all the best players."