MASTERS champion Ding Junhui survived a stern test in the opening round of the Wyldecrest Park Homes Welsh Open in Newport today.

The Chinese player quickly found himself 2-0 down to Marcus Campbell in the best-of-seven-frames encounter but fought back to triumph 4-3.

The tournament has a new format this year with shorter matches and no interval, and Ding, who will meet either Mark Allen or Rod Lawler in the last 16, is a fan.

He told http://www.worldsnooker.com: "I prefer not to have an interval because it makes it more like practice when you are playing all the time with no breaks.

"In the interval I tend to just practise anyway, so I prefer to just keep playing. I felt relaxed today and played well.’’ Scot Campbell took the opening two frames with breaks of 41 and 63 before Ding got into his stride, rattling off three frames in a row.

The last of those began with a fluked red and the 23-year-old capitalised fully with a break of 125.

Campbell responded well to force a decider but a poor safety shot cost him dearly as Ding clinched victory with another century.

The other early game was also a close affair as Dave Harold saw off Ricky Walden 4-3 to set up a likely meeting with John Higgins.