Ding Junhui donates UK Championship prize to charity

China's Ding Junhui has donated the 276 meat pies he was given after winning the UK Championship to a charity in his adopted home city of Sheffield.

Tournament sponsors Pukka Pies promised the victor his body weight in pies and Ding, 22, who beat John Higgins 10-8 to also win £100,000, weighed in at 69kg.

He joked: "When we weighed up we wore more clothes and I wanted to put some balls in my pocket but they were found.

"I love Sheffield. I want to help those less fortunate than me at Christmas."

After initially suggesting he may share the pies with his fans in China, Ding decided to give them to Homeless and Rootless at Christmas (HARC), a charity that helps the homeless over the festive period, in the city he has made home after moving from China.

A spokemsan for HARC said: "This is a fantastic gesture and we're so grateful for the generosity.

"The donation is a great help to us in feeding those who come to us because they have nowhere else to go, as we are the only Sheffield organisation which is open to help the homeless over Christmas and New Year."

Ding, who also won the UK Championship as an 18-year-old in 2005, had not won a ranking tournament since the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy.

But he kept his nerve in a tight contest with reigning world champion Higgins in a match where neither player took a two-frame lead until near Ding went 9-7 in front.