Ding Junhui has admitted that he is relishing his meeting with Jimmy White in the second round of the UK Snooker Championship.
The 27-year-old brushed aside amateur John Sutton 6-0 at the Barbican Centre yesterday to set up a clash with White in the next round.
"I watched a lot of Jimmy White when I was a little boy," Ding is quoted as saying by the Doncaster Free Press. "I can't remember the last time I played him but I have a lot of fans here and I saw that when I was playing.
"I'm just looking forward to playing against Jimmy now. It was my first match in the UK and I didn't play really well – I just played like normal."
Elsewhere in York, world champion Mark Selby sealed his progression with a 6-0 whitewash against Oliver Brown, while six-time champion Steve Davis lost to world number eight Ricky Walden