Limerick's Leo Fernandez scores sensational comeback win at UK Snooker Championship

LIMERICK snooker player Leo Fernandez has produced a stunning comeback to dump world number three Ding Junhui out of the prestigious UK Championship at the York Barbican.

Forty one-year-old Fernandez won the last five frames of the first round match on Tuesday to claim a sensational 6-5 victory over the two-time UK champion.

World number 130 Fernandez took it to a deciding frame with a break of 80 and then sealed a 6-5 win with a brilliant final pink for the biggest win of his career.

Fernandez has been struggling with a slipped disc in his back and said he was in a fair amount of pain during ‘the biggest win’ of his career.

"When I was 5-1 down I was thinking about having to get the train home, but I hadn't played badly.

"It's an amazing feeling to beat a player as good as Ding."

Fernandez, now based in Sussex, had lost all four of his matches on tour this season, winning just four frames in the process.

Fernandez, who has only twice been past the second round of a ranking event in 22-year career.

Fernandez returned to the tour in August having served a 15-month ban for a breach of anti-corruption regulations.