Ding Junhui dominated Alan McManus during the first session of the 2016 World Snooker Championship semi-finals on Thursday, opening up a 6-2 lead.The 29-year-old recorded an incredible four centuries, just one short of the semi-final record, which is currently shared by Stephen Hendry, Ronnie OSullivan and Shaun Murphy, per Matt from Pro Snooker Blog. With at least 11 frames still to play, Ding seems bound to break it.McManus spent most of the afternoon in his seat but did manage to steal two frames toward the end of the session to give himself a chance. Mark Selby and Marco Fu will start their semi-final clash later on Thursday.Heres a look at the results and schedule for Thursday.Afternoon RecapDing has been in superb form of late but took it to another level against McManus, opening up a four-frame lead after the first session.He started the match with a century break and won the first five frames in a row, making three centuries in the process and a high break of 131.His long-potting in particular was excellent, as evidenced by this shot, shared by World Snooker:Ding spent most of the afternoon on the front foot and barely had to show his ability as a safety player, with McManus not getting much time on the table. The Scotsman at one point didnt make a pot for over half an hour.World Snooker would love to have known what he said when Ding made another smart pot to the middle pocket:McManus got himself on the board late in the session, winning two scrappy frames with some smart safety play before Ding ended the session with another century, scoring 128.Football representative Christopher Atkins wondered whether his recent struggles led to his strong form at the Crucible:Ding entered this years World Championship in arguably the worst form of his career, needing to go through qualifiers after falling out of the top 16. The Star of the East, who won five ranking events in the 2013-14 season, hasnt won a single ranking event since the start of the 2014-15 campaign.But after a strong showing during the qualifiers, Ding seems to have rediscovered his best form and is poised to qualify for his first Crucible final. Ding remains the favourite to become the first Asian player to become world champion, although an all-Chinese final against Hong Kongs Fu is still possible.
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