REIGNING champion Graeme Dott made a sluggish start to the defence of his 888. com World Championship title after blowing a two-frame lead to trail Ian McCulloch 5-4 in Sheffield yesterday. The number one seed had a golden opportunity to go 5-2 ahead of the world number 26 in their best-of-19 first-round tie, but was made to pay for a simple miss on the pink as McCulloch went on to take the final three frames of the opening session.

No first-time winner at the Crucible has ever managed to successfully defend their title the following season, and after potting the white on his very first shot of the tournament, the early omens did not look promising for the Scot. Dott had plenty of opportunities to close out the opening frame but neither he nor the Preston player seemed to be enjoying the early 10am start, and it was the 2005 semi-finalist . . . winner of both of the pair's previous professional meetings . . .who eventually prevailed.

The world number six fought back, recording a 61 break in the third, the biggest of the session, to take a 2-1 lead before the qualifier squared things up in another topsy-turvy frame. It was Dott, last month's China Open champion, who took the first two frames after the interval and looked set to take the seventh with a break of 56.

But McCulloch, the victor in their first-round Crucible meeting two years ago, punished misses on the pink in the seventh and eighth frames before clearing green to black to take a narrow lead into last night's.

Fellow 2006 finalist Peter Ebdon did not fare any better as veteran Nigel Bond reeled off the final five frames of their opening session to take a 5-4 lead. It was Bond who provided the major upset of last year's opening round . . .

defeating seven-times Crucible winner Stephen Hendry 10-9 on a re-spotted black.

The 1995 runner-up showed similar resolve to bounce back in style against the world number seven.

Ebdon, the 2002 champion, looked short of his best despite taking all four opening frames . . . his biggest break was 41 - stealing the fourth after Bond had looked a firm favourite with a 62. But the qualifier returned from the interval revitalised, winning all five remaining frames and racking up 419 points along the way against Ebdon's meagre offering of 76.

A break of 114 in the final frame of the session . . . the first century of the tournament . . . gave the world number 21 high hopes of taking another first-round scalp when they resume this morning.

Meanwhile, for a man who boasts a billion followers, Ding Junhui is at pains to play down his fame as he prepared for the biggest snooker match of his life.

The Chinese sensation made his long-awaited debut at the World Championship yesterday in a mouth-watering first-round encounter with Ronnie O'Sullivan. The match was certain to draw a massive audience in the 20year-old's homeland, perhaps even surpassing the record 110 million when he won the China Open two years ago.

"I have one billion people behind me and it feels very good, " Ding said. "I think it's my biggest advantage."

But despite professing to be the the third most famous sporting figure in China after NBA star Yao Ming and Olympic 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang, Ding insists his fame means little.

"They say I'm the third most famous sportsman in China. I don't really care about it. Mostly I concentrate on my game."

Ding will nevertheless hope a tiny percentage of his supporters make the long journey to Sheffield to help offset what is bound to be an overwhelmingly pro-O'Sullivan crowd. The game's brightest young star was left in tears the last time he was exposed to such an atmosphere, during January's Saga Insurance Masters final defeat to the same opponent.

He insists he has learnt from his Wembley wobble, however. Should Ding manage to beat O'Sullivan, he will be immediately installed as one of the tournament favourites.