Defending champion Mark Selby, World Champion Mark Williams and Chinese number one Ding Junhui all exited on the opening two days in shock style at the China Open.
The second richest event on the calendar, it has attracted all of the top players in the world except for Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen, but after the results of the opening round it seems as though the big guns have one eye on the upcoming World Championships in Sheffield.
Selby lost in his heldover last 128 match against Craig Steadman on Monday afternoon in Beijing 6-3 to continue a quiet campaign that also saw him lose at the same stage of the UK Championships.
Williams meanwhile survived against Harvey Chandler 6-4 in his heldover last 128 tie, winning the last two frames to clinch victory in a match that featured plenty of big scoring from both players. Chandler had a high break of 130 while Williams made breaks of 101, 102 and 106. He could not keep that going in the last 64 though as he fell 6-4 to Ken Doherty with the Irishman making a high break of 115.
Ding meanwhile exited in the last 64 stage as well, after winning his heldover match 6-1 against Zhang Jiankang and finishing with a 139 break, but the second day was an entirely different tale as he played poorly and left the home fans disappointed as he was swept aside 6-3 by James Wattana.
Also heading home is Masters champion Judd Trump as he lost a long deciding frame on the colours against Robbie Williams. The underdog stormed into an early 3-0 lead managing the match high break of 119 in the process. Trump came back at him though, but Williams held firm to move one away at 5-3. He could easily have won the match sooner, but lost frame nine on the black after some good chances went begging and Trump swiftly forced the decider. In the final frame though, Williams built up a handy lead as the balls went scrappy and held onto that advantage before eventually closing the match out by potting the green.
John Higgins suffered a second defeat of the season to Joe O'Connor as he too suffered a surprise early loss in Beijing. O'Connor had beaten Higgins in February in the Welsh Open quarter-finals and he would have been confident of repeating that, ending up with a comfortable 6-2 win.
Last year's runner-up Barry Hawkins was another of the top seeds to tumble as he lost out in a final frame to the ever improving Lu Ning. Lu came into this event after a semi-final in Gibraltar and a quarter-final in India and was able to edge out Hawkins 6-5.
The hopes of automatic Crucible qualification for Ryan Day and Joe Perry both ended as well on Tuesday. The pair were the nearest challengers to provisional 16th seed David Gilbert, who completed a 6-4 win on Monday to keep his destiny under control against Indian Open champion Matthew Selt. Day though was trashed 6-1 by Sam Craigie and Perry lost 6-4 to Scott Donaldson, despite drawing level at 4-4 from 4-1 down. Ali Carter is now the nearest challenger having fought back to beat Kurt Maflin 6-5, but Carter would have to make it all the way to this week's final.
In the race for tour survival there have been ups and downs for the players in Beijing. Nigel Bond's hopes of climbing into the top eight on the one-season list that are not already qualified for next year were badly damaged after a 6-4 loss against Anthony McGill. Bond showed his disappointment afterwards on social media, claiming that McGill (who was docked the opener for arriving late) had overslept and was woken by World Snooker staff in time to make the match.
Dominic Dale also suffered a minor setback after he lost out 6-5 to Selby's slayer Craig Steadman, but there was good news for Gerard Greene and Rod Lawler. Both have climbed into the top eight on the one-season list NAQ for next season, with Greene beating Chris Wakelin 6-2 while Lawler saw off Thor Chuan Leong by the same scoreline, though the pair will face top 16 opposition in the last 32.
Last 64 results:
Craig Steadman 6-5 Dominic Dale
Liang Wenbo 6-3 Gary Wilson
Sam Craigie 6-1 Ryan Day
Ali Carter 6-5 Kurt Maflin
Mei Xiwen 6-3 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 6-2 Kishan Hirani
Mark King 6-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Lu Ning 6-5 Barry Hawkins
Alan McManus 6-2 Pang Junxu
Stuart Carrington 6-4 Jamie Clarke
Stephen Maguire 6-1 Xu Si
Anthony McGill 6-4 Nigel Bond
Michael Holt 6-4 Xiao Guodong
Luca Brecel 6-1 Sam Baird
Hossein Vafei 6-2 Robert Milkins
Joe O'Connor 6-2 John Higgins
Robbie Williams 6-5 Judd Trump
Li Hang 6-3 Zhou Yuelong
Jack Lisowski 6-2 John Astley
Gerard Greene 6-2 Chris Wakelin
Peter Ebdon 6-2 Yan Bingtao
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Elliot Slessor
Rod Lawler 6-2 Thor Chuan Leong
Kyren Wilson 6-1 Yuan Sijun
James Wattana 6-3 Ding Junhui
Lu Haotian 6-4 Oliver Lines
Andrew Higginson 6-1 Adam Stefanow
Ben Woollaston 6-4 Ashley Carty
Scott Donaldson 6-4 Joe Perry
David Gilbert 6-4 Matthew Selt
Ricky Walden 6-4 Chang Bingyu
Ken Doherty 6-4 Mark Williams
Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold)
Liang Wenbo Vs Craig Steadman
Ali Carter Vs Sam Craigie
Neil Robertson Vs Mei Xiwen
Mark King Vs Lu Ning
Stuart Carrington Vs Alan McManus
Stephen Maguire Vs Anthony McGill
Luca Brecel Vs Michael Holt
Hossein Vafei Vs Joe O'Connor
Li Hang Vs Robbie Williams
Jack Lisowski Vs Gerard Greene
Stuart Bingham Vs Peter Ebdon
Kyren Wilson Vs Rod Lawler
Lu Haotian Vs James Wattana
Ben Woollaston Vs Andrew Higginson
David Gilbert Vs Scott Donaldson
Ricky Walden Vs Ken Doherty
Ali Carter is the nearest player now to catching David Gilbert in the Crucible race and after a number of top players lost today, Carter may quietly fancy his chances. His opponent in the last 32 is Sam Craigie though who comfortably saw off Gilbert's original nearest rival in Ryan Day and Gilbert will definitely owe Craigie a drink if he can do the same again here to Carter. The Captain was a 6-5 winner in round one over Kurt Maflin, coming from 4-2 and 5-4 down to win that one and another slow start against Craigie could be fatal.
Neil Robertson is now the highest ranked player left in the tournament and certainly the favourite to win this tournament now. He saw off Kishan Hirani very early on Monday morning 6-2 before getting to sit back and watch the carnage as top players fell left, right and centre in Beijing. It was not just top players falling, but also ex-top 16 players as Marco Fu fell to Robertson's last 32 opponent Mei Xiwen. This comes after Mei curiously lost 4-0 to Luke Simmonds in India, not the sort of form that you would expect from a player that would then go on to beat Fu, but his chances against the Australian are much slimmer. Robertson reached the final of the Tour Championship and Players Championship as well as winning the Welsh Open, meaning he has reached the final of the last three ranking events he has played in prior to this week. Looking at the draw now and given his amazing form of late there is absolutely no reason why he could not extend that ranking final run to four on the spinn.
There's an intriguing all-Scottish clash to look forward to in the last 32 as Stephen Maguire takes on the sleepy Anthony McGill. Not only did McGill get docked a frame after oversleeping and turning up late against Nigel Bond, but his one-year ranking would suggest he has been asleep for much of the season. At 68 this season he is nowhere near the level that he is capable of but after two centuries against Bond, there is a chance for him to have a great week here and turn his entire season around at the right time. Against Maguire though he faces stiff opposition, after Maguire overcame Xu Si comfortably 6-1 in the opening round. He will certainly be the favourite for this one and as a former winner and runner-up at this event he has the past tournament form as well.
Luca Brecel will once again look at a draw opening up and wonder if he can have his best ranking event run of the season. He is two wins away from reaching a first ranking event quarter-final since November 2017 but first he has to see off Shoot-Out runner-up Michael Holt. Brecel overcame Sam Baird comfortably in round one 6-1, while Holt was an impressive 6-4 winner against Chinese number two Xiao Guodong, finishing the match off with a 134 total clearance. That should give Holt confidence and as the early statistic on Brecel suggests, he is taking on someone who is hardly at the top of his game right now. In fact, on the provisional season list there are just four places separating Brecel and Holt, with a victory for Holt here taking him ahead of Brecel overall, so this one is actually a much closer match-up than the two-year rankings would lead you to believe.
Jack Lisowski has gone quiet in recent times but the exit in particular of potential last 16 opponent Judd Trump may give him the boost he needs to go on a deep run ahead of the World Championships. He started out in Beijing this week with a 6-2 win over John Astley and now faces Gerard Greene who did himself a massive favour in the race to stay on tour by beating Chris Wakelin 6-2. Greene is certainly capable of beating Lisowski on his day, if Lisowski is not quite on top of his game, but Lisowski has recorded two previous quarter-finals in this event and is now favourite to go on and do that again this week.
Stuart Bingham is now the second favourite for this tournament given some of his recent form. A winner at the Gibraltar Open and finalist of the Welsh Open, he will be full of confidence and was scoring heavily in both of those runs. Starting this week he has whitewashed Elliot Slessor, making three centuries in the process and recording the early tournament high break of 140. In round two though he faces former two-time China Open champion Peter Ebdon, who saw off one of the home favourites in Yan Bingtao 6-2 in the last 64. Ebdon has had a solid season on the whole, reaching the Paul Hunter Classic final to show everyone that he has still got it and his 2012 victory in this event is one that still sits clearly in my memory seven years on. Against Bingham though he certainly has his work cut out, as he has to find a way to do something that very few players have in recent times and that is to stop him scoring.
Kyren Wilson is another player that will certainly fancy his chances now this week, especially after beating the ever-improving Yuan Sijun 6-1 in the opening round. That win was revenge for Yuan inflicting a loss on Wilson over the same format at the International Championship earlier this season and is a very handsome one given some of the form Yuan has been in over the last two months. He now faces a player battling for his playing rights on tour in Rod Lawler, with Lawler defeating Thor Chuan Leong 6-2 in the last 64 and Wilson has to be a very heavy favourite in this one. It would need to be a major off day for Wilson in order for Lawler to have a chance of victory here, but after all of the upsets over the first two days, anything is possible.
Finally, David Gilbert still has his Crucible destiny in his own hands in Beijing after a 6-4 win over Matthew Selt was followed by exits for Ryan Day and Joe Perry. Carter is now the only player who can overtake Gilbert without winning the event and even he would need to make the final, which may allow Gilbert to relax a little more as he takes on Scott Donaldson. The Scot has already done Gilbert a favour by releasing some of that pressure by beating Joe Perry 6-4, but now he will have high hopes of continuing that run with a win over Gilbert. Donaldson was a quarter-finalist at the Welsh and Indian Opens in the last six weeks so should have plenty of confidence as he lines up against Gilbert. Gilbert did though deliver two centuries in his win over Selt, looking like showing more of the form that took him to the German Masters final, than the play that saw him suffer early loses in India and Wales more recently.
All last 32 matches will be contested on Wednesday over the best-of-11 frames once more, with play taking place over two sessions at 7am and 12.30pm UK time, with coverage continuing on Eurosport TV and the Eurosport Player.
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