Wed Mar 31 05:19PM

Greetings from Beijing where I have just played my first-round match at the China Open against Rod Lawler.

I won 5-2 but only after a slow start. Rod was playing very well in the early stages and if I had gone in at the interval 3-1 down I wouldn't really have had any complaints.

However, I was happy with the way I played after that, and how I battled throughout. There were three separate frames where I was 50-odd points behind, that I then came back to win, so that shows I'm playing well.

My form is good at the moment, things have been going well on the practice table and now I just have to transfer that into the match environment.

Also, while my match was not on one of the televised tables, there was still a good crowd watching me as I was on the same side as the Ronnie O'Sullivan v Tian Pengfei match.

It will be something completely different tomorrow though when I face Ding Junhui, who is greatly loved by the home fans over here.

I'm sure it will be a great atmosphere. I have played Ding in China before but only in an invitational event; this will be the first time I've played him in a ranking event in his country.

I imagine it will be similar to the buzz you get when you play Ronnie at Wembley. The home fans will be supporting Ding but I've also always had great support from the Chinese fans so hopefully that will continue.

It has been quite a late finish here so I'm just going to get some rest in preparation for the match.

I'm glad though that the matches come thick and fast now. I've been here since last Friday so I'm ready to just play matches and hopefully go all the way. Also, you always want to get straight back out there after a victory.

There is obviously a buzz around the tournament now after Tian, another Chinese player, beat Ronnie.

A lot of people will be very surprised by that result, but not me: I know Tian is an excellent player, he was on the tour a few years ago. Even though he is a wildcard here, he is more than capable of mixing it with the big boys.

I have heard there was some controversy over a missed black from Ronnie at the end, but I haven't seen it or read anything about it yet because I was playing my own match.

At this stage, I've just heard whispers.