Uffculme cueman Sam Baird claims he could not have picked a better opponent to play in the Haikou World Open than home favourite and world No. 7 Ding Junhui.

Baird is poised to meet Ding – who won the Welsh Open on Sunday – provided he can first negotiate Chinese amateur Jin Long in the wild card round on Monday.

And the Halberton player insists all the pressure will be on Ding should the two meet, although he conceded he was ‘almost frightened’ at the Chinaman’s current form.

“To be honest, if I could have picked anybody to play in the first round it would have been him (Ding),” said the 23-year-old.

“He is going to be in front of his home crowd so there should be a bit more pressure on him than me.

“Ding has just won in Wales so I would rather he was not in such good form, but there’s nothing you can do about that.

“I am looking forward to it but I hope he gives me a chance because the way he played in Wales almost frightened me a little bit.

“I just have to try and acclimatise as quickly as I can. I am not looking forward to the trip because I don’t like long journeys like that.

“I have to get through the wild card round first but if I do win, it should set me up quite well and give me a taste of the atmosphere there.”

Ding lifted the Welsh Open after defeating Baird’s conqueror, current world No. 1 Mark Selby, in the final.

But world No. 78 Baird – who has risen four places since the event – enjoyed a fine tournament, running Selby close before losing 4-2, and a career-high break of 141.

A simple missed blue cost Baird a famous victory, and while he admitted he was pleased with his performance, the defeat still clearly rankled with the youngster.

“I should have won really. It was not a good game and I missed a blue my mum wouldn’t have missed and that cost me the frame,” he said.

“After that, I had lots of chances but couldn’t put them away. I am disappointed but I still played pretty well and I’ve watched it over a few times and don’t think I did too badly.”