SHEFFIELD (UNITED KINGDOM) - Ding Junhui raced into a 6-2 lead over Alan McManus as the Chinese star hit four centuries in the first session of the World Championship semi-finals on Thursday.
China's Ding Junhui takes part in his quarter-final match in the World Snooker Championships at The Crucible in Sheffield, England on April 28, 2015
Ding is bidding to become the first Asian to win the sport's showpiece event after having to qualify for the tournament following his recent slide out of the world's top 16.
The 29-year-old has been in brilliant form at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, eliminating Martin Gould and Judd Trump in the first two rounds before winning his quarter-final against Mark Williams 13-3 with a session to spare.
Ding began his bid to reach the final in the same blistering form, with breaks of 100, 84 and 131 taking him into a 3-0 lead against the shell-shocked McManus, who at 45 is the oldest man to reach a Crucible semi since Ray Reardon in 1985.
He added the fourth and made another 100 break to go 5-0 up before McManus, in the last four for the first time since 1993, finally got on the board in frame six.
A precise long red helped the Scot take the next as well but Ding rattled in a 128 in the last frame of the session for a 6-2 advantage.
The final could yet be an all-Asian affair, with Hong Kong's world number 14 Marco Fu playing Mark Selby in the other semi-final.