Kyren Wilson suffered a shock early exit in the qualifying round for the Wuhan Open as he lost 5-4 to tour newcomer He Guoqiang on Friday at Leicester’s Morningside Arena.
World No. 122 He trailed 66-0 in the decider, but produced a closing break of 64 to pinch the final frame by two points on the black to claim the biggest win of his short career.
Mark Allen had no such problems as he fended off a strong performance by world No. 68 John Astley in a 5-3 win.
The world No. 3 claimed the first two frames, including an opening run of 109, but was forced to digest Astley mounting a strong recovery to level at 3-3 with knocks of 66, 120 and 56.
But the UK champion regrouped to dominate the final two frames as further efforts of 56 and 99 saw him book his trip to China.
Elsewhere, British Open champion Ryan Day compiled a 102 break in a 5-3 win over Long Zehuang, while Wu Yize overcame Allan Taylor by the same scoreline having trailed 3-0.
Neil Robertson meets Ryan Thomerson in an all-Australian clash on Friday afternoon, with Mark Selby facing Andy Lee on Friday evening in his home city.
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The tournament is the first major ranking event held by China since Judd Trump won the World Open in November 2019 in Yushan due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Qualifying for the last-64 stage can be streamed between September 1-5 live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Wuhan Open qualifying latest results
- He Guoqiang 5-4 Kyren Wilson
- Ryan Day 5-3 Long Zehuang
- Wu Yize 5-3 Allan Taylor
- Mark Allen 5-3 John Astley
