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Ding Junhui of China reacts during the third round match with Jamie Jones of Wales at the Snooker UK Championship in York, Britain on Nov. 29, 2016. Ding lost 2-6. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

China’s Ding Junhui the latest big name to crash out of snooker’s UK Championship

Two-time winner is stunned by unheralded Jamie Jones in the third round

Ding Junhui suffered a shock exit from the UK Championship on Tuesday as the Chinese star was beaten 6-2 by Jamie Jones in the third round.

Ding, a two-time UK Championship winner, had climbed back to number five in the world rankings after a poor run and hoped for a strong showing in the York tournament.

But instead the 29-year-old was crushed by Welshman Jones, who is only ranked 37th in the world.

Ding was level at 2-2 going into the interval, but he was unable to find his rhythm after the break as Jones won all four frames to seal an impressive victory.

Ding is the latest high-profile player to be knocked out of this year’s UK Championship following the early exits of Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump.

Ding Junhui of China reacts during the third round match with Jamie Jones of Wales at the Snooker UK Championship in York, Britain on Nov. 29, 2016. Ding lost 2-6. (Xinhua/Jon Buckle)

“It ranks high among my best ever wins,” world number 39 Jones told worldsnooker.com. He now meets David Gilbert. “I felt calm throughout and I put Ding under pressure. If you do that against anyone they will miss, and then you’ve got to punish them when you get chances.

“My philosophy this week has been to just treat every match the same and not think about how far I am in the draw or the prize money.”

Elsewhere, Mark Allen battled back from 4-0 down to beat Ryan Day 6-5 and now faces John Higgins.

“I felt at 4-0 down that if I could get a couple of frames back I’d have a chance,” said Allen. “When it got to 4-3 I noticed Ryan was shaking all over the place and I knew I could win. I’m chuffed with the result but I need to improve.”

In other games, Stephen Maguire beat Fergal O’Brien 6-5 and China’s Zhang Anda was a 6-3 winner over Mitchell Mann.

Hong Kong’s Marco Fu Ka-chun is in action overnight against Oliver Lines.

Additional reporting: AFP

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