Ding Junhui may have just reached the Betfred World Snooker Championship second round but he is already dreaming of a glamour semi-final with Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Sheffield’s Ding was in fine form against fellow Chinese potter Xiao Guodong in the first round, storming from 2-0 down to register an impressive 10-3 win.

But the 31-year-old, who is yet to win at the Crucible Theatre, is already looking ahead to a potential last four contest with O’Sullivan – the game’s standout player this year and the heavy favourite to win a sixth world title.

“I want to play Ronnie. I really do. I want to improve myself and he is the hardest to beat so I want to play him,” he said.

“It is always a good test and I want to win every match. It is not always impossible but I want to increase my win percentage and beat everyone else.”

Xiao, the world number 25, had only ever won match at the Crucible Theatre before but he started like he owned the place with breaks of 82 and 54 giving him a 2-0 lead.

Ding was noticeably rusty, missing balls he would normally make in his sleep, but as soon as he got on the board in frame three his confidence noticeably grew.

A composed century of 124 gave him the lead and only a steady 57 from Xiao prevented Ding from winning every other frame in the session.

And then breaks of 72, 61, 51, 78 and 98 carried him over the line and into the second round for the sixth successive year.

Elsewhere, 2015 champion Stuart Bingham crashed out 10-7 to qualifier Jack Lisowski.

It was Bingham’s first appearance at the Crucible since he was banned for three months for betting on matches.

Mark Williams took a 7-2 lead against Jimmy Robertson in the afternoon session, displaying some of his best snooker that underlined why he is being touted as one of the favourites to win.

Elsewhere, Ricky Walden beat Luca Brecel 10-6. “I played well in the most of the game,” Walden said. “My game is razor sharp.”

Watch the snooker World Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.