体坛英语新闻：Mark Williams beat Liu Chuang to enter last-16 at snooker worlds

SHEFFIELD, England, April 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Liu Chuang suffered a first-round exit from the World Snooker Championship after a 10-6 defeat to the Welsh veteran Mark Willams on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Liu, who trailed the two-time world champion 6-3 after the first session, failed to fight his way back and was knocked out by the "golden left hander". Williams will meet "Rocket" O'Sullivan in the next round.

"It's my second Crucible appearance, the first time four years ago I was nervous, but this year I wasn't as nervous," said Liu.

Liu's elimination means Cao Yupeng is the only Chinese player advancing to the last 16.

"I didn't feel like I played my best. Hopefully Cao Yupeng will play well and make the Chinese fans proud."

Willams looked forward to his top clash with the three-time winner O'Sullivan.

"I've been owing Ronnie one for ten years. Let's hope that this time that I beat him," said the 37-year-old.

"I enjoy the occasion really, but he always plays well against me. I need to play a lot better than that to stand any chance."

Cao, who just turned professional last year, stunned the home crowd last Sunday by thrashing world number 11 Mark Allen 10-6 in his Crucible Thertre debut show.

The 21-year-old promising star will play against Ryan Day, who upset the tournament favourite and the last year's semi-finalist Ding Junhui 10-9 on Wednesday.

The Championship, running from April 21 to May 7, saw many big names fall in the first round.

After the world number one Mark Selby and Ding Junhui's shock exits on Wednesday, eight seeded players among the total 32 competitors have left the yearly's biggest tournament of snooker, which is a record number in the past 20 years.

Also on Thursday, two of the last-16 matches were staged on.

Under the best of 25 frames, Neil Robertson led David Gilbert 5-3 after first session. Stephen Maguire also led Joe Perry in the same score.

The Championship is tipped as the "big three" events along with UK Championship and the Masters in a season. It has been staged at the Crucible Theatre since 1977.