Hong Kong snooker star Marco Fu stuns China’s Ding Junhui in first round of new big-money Guangzhou tournament

Marco Fu Ka-chun stunned a packed crowd in Guangzhou at the inaugural Evergrande China Championship with a terrific 6-3 victory over mainland rival Ding Junhui.

Fu has not been playing well at the start of the new season, but rediscovered his groove against China’s best player, who in contrast has been one of the most in-form players this term.

Fu took the first three frames, helped by breaks of 74 and 83 before Ding pulled one back. At 5-3 he gave Ding a window for a comeback when he missed on the black while cleaning up, but Ding conceded after the pair both missed a few attempts.

“It was a good win. He is always dangerous, but he is under pressure in China,” said Fu.

“The best chance to beat Ding is always in the first round as he normally gets stronger as the event goes on.

“ I’m very pleased to get through.”

Fu plays world No.12 Ali Carter in the next round after he beat Judd Trump.

And he added that his game was starting to come together again after he felt shattered after defeat in the semi-finals of the World Championships last season.

“I just couldn’t really recover, mentally, physically, I was really drained out and very disappointed I didn’t get to the final at least,” he added.

“Everything fell apart after the World Championships and it was very tough to recover.

“It’s a long season so it’s a good chance to play myself into [it]. Hopefully I can use this opportunity to play myself into confidence.”

Ding denied that he was feeling under pressure playing in a home tournament, but his defeat at the weekend in the final in Daqing had affected his mood.

Nearly all the world’s best players are competing at the new tournament, which runs until November 5 and has a top prize of GBP200,000 (HK$1.89 million), the largest outside the UK.