“Alan McManus said he thought Ding Junhui was a spent force after the Chinese player lost form last season. Ding hasnu0027t won a ranking event since 2019 and fell out of the top 16 during a disappointing 2022-23 campaign that featured a number of early exits. However, amid concerns over his cue action, he reached the UK Championship final last month where he lost 10-7 to Ronnie Ou0027Sullivan.”