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 drubbed Ryan Thomerson 5-0 in an all-Australian clash on Friday afternoon, with four-time world champion Mark Selby whitewashing Andy Lee 5-0 in the evening session in his home city.
Selby enjoyed breaks of 75, 106 and 57 with 2010 world champion Robertson running in 95, 68 and a sparkling 137, his 900th career century.
But Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson was dumped out 5-3 by Ashley Carty, who continued his fine form after reaching the quarter-finals of the European Masters last week.
Carty led 2-0 before Wilson won the next three frames with breaks of 113, 56 and 59. Carty responded in style by claiming the final three frames, boosted by closing runs of 54 and 98.
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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
- Mark Selby 5-0 Andy Lee
- Neil Robertson 5-0 Ryan Thomerson
- Alfie Burden 5-0 Robbie Williams
- Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Andrew Higginson
- Ashley Carty 5-3 Gary Wilson
- Joe O’Connor 5-0 Dean Young
- Ben Woollaston 5-2 Oliver Brown
