Chinese favourites through

LOCAL hero and Paul Hunter, another darling of the Chinese crowd, both battled through to the quarter-finals of the €292,000 China Open in Beijing last night.

Ding, stepped into an uncharted region of a world ranking tournament with a dramatic 5-4 victory over Stuart Bingham, while a relieved Hunter beat Jimmy White 5-3 after leading 4-0 at the mid-session interval.

On Wednesday, Hunter will receive the results of tests carried out on six cysts that, through keyhole surgery, were recently found in his abdomen.