LONDON - Chinese sensation Ding Junhui advanced to the quarterfinals of the UK Snooker Championship after beating Matthew Stevens 9-5 in York.

China's Ding Junhui prepares to hit his shot during the men's singles snooker final against his compatriot Liang Wenbo at the 15th Asian Games in Doha December 7, 2006. [Reuters]

The 19-year-old, who won the event as a qualifier last year, compiled breaks of 111, 100 and 92 on his way to victory and a place in the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, Ken Doherty went down 9-6 to Mark Perry in their second-round match.

And Stephen Hendry, without a title win in over a year, surged to a 6-2 lead over Mark Williams at the interval.

The Scotsman failed to impress in his first-round win over Dave Harold, but recovered his form against an out-of-sorts Williams with breaks of 117, 103, 73 and 55 to put himself on course for a last-eight clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Ding, who won three gold medals at the Asian Games in Doha before this event, was less consistent in his match, and admitted his busy schedule was beginning to take its toll.

"I'm relieved to have won because I didn't play very well," said Ding, who will next meet Peter Ebdon.

"I'm not feeling very stable just now. I didn't feel very confident before the match and I was a bit worried in the first session because Matthew played well."

Meanwhile, Steve Davis let a 4-1 lead slip as Alan McManus drew level at 4-4 at their mid-match interval.