Ding Junhui's hopes of becoming the first Chinese player to win the world snooker title are on hold for another year following a 13-7 quarter-final defeat by England's Barry Hawkins at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on Wednesday. The match was still in the balance, with Hawkins only two frames in front at 9-7, when the best of 25-frame contest resumed on Tuesday. But Hawkins made short work of former UK and Masters champion Ding by reeling off the four frames he needed to claim his second major scalp of the tournament.

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan produced a stunning burst of form to establish a 7-1 lead over Stuart Bingham in their quarter-final match at the World Championship on Tuesday. O'Sullivan is playing in his first major tournament in over a year and complained of feeling "tired and jaded" after overcoming Ali Carter in the second round, but the 37-year-old unleashed a devastating display against Bingham to close on the semi-finals.

Thailand's rank outsider Dechawat Poomjaeng held his nerve to edge sixth seed Stephen Maguire 10-9 in the first round of the snooker World Championship late on Tuesday. The 24-year-old -- ranked 70th in the world -- had had a nervous wait after their match was so slow they had to be taken off so the evening session matches could take place and only returned after they finished. Maguire, a semi-finalist last year but who already had three first round exits to his name at the championships, levelled to 9-9 once they resumed play to take the match into a deciding frame.

Chinese star Ding Junhui revealed he is under so much pressure to win a maiden world title that he wished he had extra-terrestrial powers. World number nine Ding has never got beyond the semi-finals of the world championships, the 2013 edition of which gets underway on Saturday in Sheffield. And unlike 2012, when there were four Chinese players in the main draw, Ding will be his country's only representative this time around. That has only increased the expectations.