Ding, a winner of five world titles in 2014, has had difficulty maintaining consistency recently and the 28 year old has slid down in the rankings. But with the World Championship beginning on April 16th in England, now is the perfect time for China's top potter to get back to form.

Ding Junhui entered snooker history in 2014 when he became only the second player since Stephen Hendry to win five world ranking titles in a single season. The remarkable achievement saw him match Scot's record which had stood for 23 years. However, the Chinese's form soon dipped the following year as he ended 2015 with no trophies and a string of early exits from tournaments.

Ranked 16th before the game, Ding had to perform strongly to maintain his ranking to qualify for the World Championships but a defeat to Wales' Lee Walker has left his place at the crucible uncertain and he may need to go through 3 rounds of qualification for reach Sheffield.  

"I beat him last year in the Welsh Open which obviously when you beat..... but I think he was maybe under the pressure of trying to get into the top 16, I just been told. I didn't know that before, so that must have been put some extra pressure on him, but he is a great player," said Lee Ealker, world No. 76.

But, Ding blamed the loss on his lack of preparation before the match.

"I've been travelling a lot recently, I can't even tell what day it is right now, I just get up, sleep and train according to the time. Because i'm so tired, I haven't trained from yesterday until before the game," he said.

With 11 ranking event titles to his name the World Championship is the only one missing and Chinese fans are hoping that the 28-year-old can get back to form quickly to ahead of snookers Premier event.