Judd Trump conceded in controversial fashion in the last 128 of the Northern Ireland Open as he lost out 4-2 to Stuart Carrington.
Trump was 3-2 down and 52-0 down in frame six when the incident occurred. On missing a red to the middle pocket and leaving Carrington back in, he took a swipe at the reds, shook Carrington's hand and left the arena. Under the rules it may well earn Trump a fine, though after earning £75,000 for making Saturday's Shanghai Masters final he may not be too bothered about that.
Earlier breaks of 56 and 79 had helped to put Carrington 3-2 in front before a 52 in the sixth had given him a good enough lead to put Trump under pressure, and force what became the fatal mistake.
Trump was not the only big name to exit in the last 128 round of the tournament though. Champion of Champions winner Shaun Murphy fell on Monday afternoon to Chen Zifan. Chen overcame Barry Hawkins in the last 64 of the English Open and picked up another huge result here against Murphy.
Starting with runs of 95 and 92 he confidently went 2-0 in front, before a couple of 40+ breaks in the third frame put him one away. Murphy would get one frame back but could claw the tour rookie back no further and would exit in the last 128 in Belfast for the second year running.
Barry Hawkins also exited to Chinese opposition as he let a 2-0 lead slip against Zhao Xintong. Having comfortably gone ahead, Hawkins may well have taken his foot off the gas when he missed a simple pink in the third when looking good to move within one of victory. Zhao would take that frame, as well as the following two to lead 3-2, aided by a run of 85 in the fourth. Hawkins forced his way back into a decider, but too many errors eventually proved costly and the Chinese youngster marches into the last 64.
There was to be no upset where the million pound chasing Ronnie O'Sullivan was concerned. he too let a 2-0 lead slip though against German Lukas Kleckers who made a magnificent 137 break in frame three of the match. O'Sullivan had earlier opened with runs of 91 and 126 to move 2-0 ahead but the total clearance in frame three followed by a 60 in the fourth got Kleckers back level at 2-2. However, O'Sullivan soon took control again and a run of 71 in the sixth confirmed his 4-2 win.
Sam Craigie produced one of the performances of the round to take out eleventh seed Kyren Wilson. With a new pair of glasses on board, Craigie certainly showed immediate signs of improvement to open the match with a break of 106. Wilson hit straight back with his own 105 break but when Craigie added a 110 to move back in front he really looked to be confident and in charge. Wilson would not score another point in the contest as Craigie closed out the match in emphatic style, winning the final two frames in one visit also, compiling an 88 in the fourth and 81 in the fifth to book his place in round two.
Elsewhere, there were comfortable wins for defending champion Mark King, in-form Jack Lisowski, the under pressure Neil Robertson as well as the likes of Ali Carter and Mark Williams.
With both Northern Irish amateurs falling at the first hurdle, and Joe Swail and Gerard Greene both exiting in deciders, Mark Allen is already the remaining home hope and he had to battle hard to win 4-2 against Sanderson Lam.
Last 128 Results:
Mark King 4-1 Matthew Bolton
Ashley Hugill 4-2 Josh Boileau
Jamie Barrett 4-1 Ian Preece
Yan Bingtao 4-0 Robbie Williams
Zhou Yuelong 4-3 Graeme Dott
Robin Hull 4-3 Eden Sharav
Li Hang 4-3 Cao Yupeng
Ryan Day 4-3 John Astley
Ricky Walden 4-0 Hammad Miah
Jack Lisowski 4-0 Sean O'Sullivan
Jimmy Robertson 4-2 Michael White
Zhao Xintong 4-3 Barry Hawkins
Robert Milkins 4-3 Alfie Burden
Oliver Lines 4-3 Xu Si
Billy Castle 4-2 Declan Brennan
Neil Robertson 4-1 Jamie Jones
Mark Allen 4-2 Sanderson Lam
Tian Pengfei 4-2 Soheil Vahedi
Noppon Saengkham 4-3 Hamza Akbar
Yu De Lu 4-1 Craig Steadman
Fang Xiongman W/O Luca Brecel
Chris Wakelin 4-0 Chris Totten
Jimmy White 4-3 Dominic Dale
Jak Jones 4-3 Lee Walker
Niu Zhuang 4-3 Ian Burns
Ken Doherty 4-2 Peter Lines
Liam Highfield 4-3 Mark Davis
Liang Wenbo 4-1 Jackson Page
Yuan Sijun 4-1 Alan McManus
Lu Haotian 4-3 Joe Swail
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-2 Allan Taylor
Chen Zifan 4-1 Shaun Murphy
John Higgins 4-2 Nigel Bond
Hossein Vafei 4-2 Anthony Hamilton
Gary Wilson 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Basem Eltahhan
Anthony McGill W/O Boonyarit Kaettikun
Adam Duffy 4-2 Rory McLeod
Zhang Yong 4-3 Sam Baird
Li Yuan 4-0 Aditya Mehta
Mei Xiwen 4-0 Jordan Brown
Alex Borg 4-3 Peter Ebdon
Ben Woollaston 4-3 Mark Joyce
Sam Craigie 4-1 Kyren Wilson
Elliot Slessor 4-0 Kurt Dunham
Kurt Maflin 4-1 Andrew Higginson
Duane Jones 4-1 Mitchell Mann
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 Lukas Kleckers
Mike Dunn 4-2 Jamie Clarke
Matthew Stevens 4-0 Leo Fernandez
Michael Georgiou 4-0 David Grace
Michael Holt W/O Martin O'Donnell
Ali Carter 4-0 Chen Zhe
Xiao Guodong 4-2 Chris Keogan
Matthew Selt 4-0 Rhys Clark
Joe Perry 4-3 Gerard Greene
Akani Songsermsawad 4-2 Zhang Anda
Wang Yuchen 4-2 Scott Donaldson
Tom Ford 4-2 Fergal O'Brien
Mark Williams 4-0 James Wattana
David Gilbert 4-0 Daniel Wells
Paul Davison 4-0 Rod Lawler
Ross Muir 4-2 Thor Chuan Leong
Stuart Carrington 4-2 Judd Trump
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark King Vs Ashley Hugill
Yan Bingtao Vs Jamie Barrett
Ryan Day Vs Li Hang
Zhou Yuelong Vs Robin Hull
Ricky Walden Vs Jack Lisowski
Jimmy Robertson Vs Zhao Xintong
Robert Milkins Vs Oliver Lines
Neil Robertson Vs Billy Castle
Mark Allen Vs Tian Pengfei
Yu De Lu Vs Noppon Saengkham
Chris Wakelin Vs Fang Xiongman
Jak Jones Vs Jimmy White
Ken Doherty Vs Niu Zhuang
Liang Wenbo Vs Liam Highfield
Yuan Sijun Vs Lu Haotian
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Chen Zifan
John Higgins Vs Hossein Vafei
Stephen Maguire Vs Gary Wilson
Anthony McGill Vs Adam Duffy
Zhang Yong Vs Li Yuan
Mei Xiwen Vs Alex Borg
Ben Woollaston Vs Sam Craigie
Kurt Maflin Vs Elliot Slessor
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Duane Jones
Mike Dunn Vs Matthew Stevens
Michael Holt Vs Michael Georgiou
Ali Carter Vs Xiao Guodong
Joe Perry Vs Matthew Selt
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Wang Yuchen
Mark Williams Vs Tom Ford
David Gilbert Vs Paul Davison
Stuart Carrington Vs Ross Muir
Their are some good looking matches for Wednesday's last 64. All matches remain best-of-7 frames and that could throw a couple more surprises into the mix. I think O'Sullivan's million pound dreams will continue with a comfortable win over Duane Jones, while there are also some repeats of recent matches in the draw.
Joe Perry and Matthew Selt play for the second time in two events. Selt made two centuries in his round one win, but Perry had a couple of centuries on the way to whitewashing Selt in Shanghai which will give him a psychological advantage.
Zhou Yuelong may be the favourite to take down Finland's Robin Hull, but Hull did take out the Chinese youngster in a heldover last 128 match at the International Championships 6-2.
The likes of Jack Lisowski and Kurt Maflin are in good form at the moment, and both will be looking to keep that going. Lisowski is in the form of his life and he faces Ricky Walden who has been heading in the opposite direction in recent months but a 4-0 win in round one over Hammad Miah should boost his confidence.
There are two all-Chinese clashes as Yuan Sijun faces Lu Haotian in a match that probably will not feature much safety with two aggressive young players, while Zhang Yong takes on Li Yuan. In all 17 Chinese players have made it into the last 64 which equates to over a quarter of the draw for this round.
Watch out this week for Yan Bingtao. The draw in the top section looks very open and after making it to the International Championship semi-finals he will be as confident as ever. He started his week with a nice 4-0 win over Robbie Williams and it would be a massive shock if he were to lose in the last 64.
Expect no mistake from Neil Robertson as he looks to soldier on in the race for the Masters, though Ryan Day will not have things his own way against Li Hang. Li showed battling qualities to beat Cao Yupeng from 3-0 adrift, while Day overcame John Astley from 3-1 down himself.
Michael Holt and Anthony McGill will be in action for the first time this week after opening round walkovers, with Holt particularly looking to turnaround a poor start to the season by the standards he has set in the last couple of seasons.
Two of the invitational tour card holders Ken Doherty and Jimmy White are both worthy favourites to make the last 32. Doherty faces Niu Zhuang after beating Peter Lines in round one with a century break along the way, while Jimmy White overcame Dominic Dale in a decider to set up a meeting with Jak Jones who came through a real marathon match with Lee Walker that lasted close to five hours.
Overall, there should be some great snooker to watch on day three in Belfast in the early stages of the Northern Ireland open as we eye up who the contenders could be to take home the Alex Higgins Trophy on Sunday night.
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