In the third round of the 2014 UK Championship, Ding fought from 5–1 down to send his match against James Cahill to a deciding frame. Ding recovered from needing three snookers in the tenth frame when world 100-ranked Cahill left a free ball. In the final frame, however, Ding missed a red when on a break of 32, which allowed Cahill a chance to knock him out, which he did. Despite the loss, Ding became the 11th world number one and first from Asia thanks to early eliminations of Mark Selby and Neil Robertson.