Breaking news: Robertson falls to Ding in China semi-finals

The Bexhill cueman was beaten 4-2 by home favourite Ding Junhui in Asian Tour event the Haining Open after winning five matches over the previous three days.

Robertson comfortably won the opening frame 83-5 only for Ding to reel off the next three. The Chinese took the second frame 101-1 helped by a break of 65 before winning a tighter third 73-51 and cruising through the fourth 92-0.

World number 45 Robertson hit back by clinching the fifth 102-0 with a break of 95, but fourth-ranked Ding claimed the next 79-31 aided by a run of 58 to set up a final against Ricky Walden.

Robertson began the event with a comfortable 4-0 win over Zhang Zhijie with a top break of 89. He then had to work a little harder to overcome another Chinese amateur, Luo Honghao, 4-1, winning two tight frames to lead 3-1 before finishing the job with a splendid 128.

The 29-year-old pulled off a hat-trick of victories yesterday, the first of which was a narrow 4-3 success against Barry Pinches. Robertson turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead with breaks of 51 and 70 before winning the tightest of deciding frames.

He then produced a scintillating display to see off 33rd-ranked Xiao Guodong 4-1. Guodong scored just six points in the first three frames as Robertson knocked in breaks of 53, 71, 70 and 99. Another big break of 82 in frame five sealed victory.

Robertson continued that form at the start of his quarter-final against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, comfortably winning the first three frames with runs of 74 and 67. His Thai opponent retaliated by winning the next three, but Robertson came through the decider 61-15.

Another player from O’Sullivan’s Snooker Club in Bexhill, Leo Fernandez, also produced a superb performance at the same tournament. He too won five matches to reach the quarter-finals as an amateur.

Fernandez came from 2-1 down to beat Chinese amateur Ren Jiaxing 4-2 in qualifying round one before pulling off a splendid 4-3 victory over world number 25 Matthew Selt with a top break of 59.

Irish-born Fernandez then chalked up successive 4-0 wins over Chinese players, defeating Zhao Hanyang with a best run of 64 and world number 53 Li Hang with a top effort of 51.

Fernandez continued his excellent progress with a 4-3 success against 66th-ranked Tian Pengfei, who was runner-up in the recent European Tour event three. Fernandez, whose top break was 55, did superbly to win the final three frames from 3-1 down.

He was finally beaten 4-1 by world number 11 Walden in the quarter-finals. Fernandez clinched the second frame, but Walden took a tight fourth to lead 3-1 and a 67 in the next saw him home.

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