Ding dumped out of snooker Masters

China's Ding Junhui crashed out of the Masters with a dismal 6-1 defeat against Joe Perry in the quarter-finals on Friday. Ding could only manage a highest break of 27 as he lost the first three frames at London's Alexandra Palace. The 29-year-old had the chance to pull one back after an outrageous fluke in the next frame, playing safe off the pack and cannoning a loose red into the corner pocket. But he immediately squandered his good fortune by accidently knocking in the yellow while potting the blue and Englishman Perry pushed on to a pre-interval sweep. Ding returned with his highest break of the match to date, but it was only 31 and Perry responded to move within one frame of victory. A 54 break helped Ding finally get on the board and stave off a whitewash, but Perry wrapped up the match with a 127 clearance in frame seven to set up a semi-final against Barry Hawkins.