Ding Junhui battles past Scott Donaldson 6-5 in UK Championship thriller

At the end of a brilliant, high-quality contest, Ding had the last word, a trademark century hauling him to a win that appeared unlikely when Donaldson was in first in the decider.

However, when the Scot broke down on 22, Ding kept his cool to set up a quarter-final meeting with defending champion Judd Trump on Friday.

It ended an emotional run in York for Donaldson whose father recently passed away, first fighting his way through qualifying, then lowering the colours of Mark Allen before pushing Ding all the way.

Ding started in imperious form, breaks of 50, 114 and 76 seeing him lead 3-0 and handing him firm control of the match.

And even when Donaldson rallied with runs of 118, 50 and 69, Ding still had some breathing space when moving 5-3 ahead after dominating frame eight.

But back came Donaldson again, breaks of 81 and 72 taking the match all the way, only for Ding to break his heart at the death.

"He is talented and a good player. I want him to move on because what he showed in the last three frames is top class," Ding told World Snooker Tour.

"I feel good about my game. I need to work on my psychology when playing.

"I was thinking about that a lot before the match. I need to keep thinking simple thoughts to make things happen."

Donaldson said: "The fight was good. That is what these top guys do. When the pressure comes on and I mean really on, that is what they do. It is unbelievable.

"I should have gone for a red at the end. It was really risky, but you need to take these crazy risks to beat these guys. Hindsight maybe.

"It was a tough game, but I am proud of how I fought."

On the second table, Zhang Anda put an off-colour Zhao Xintong to the sword, making a couple of centuries on the way to a comfortable 6-2 victory.