Haikou World Open Day 1

Stephen Maguire (left) was defeated by Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
(right) on the opening day in Haikou. Image: World Snooker

Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh created the biggest shock on the opening day of this year’s Haikou World Open as he defeated world number eight Stephen Maguire 5-4. Un-Nooh, who’s currently ranked 68 in the world, started well and led 3-0 at one point but it looked as though Maguire was going to see the match out as he won the next four, with a top run of 111. However Un-Nooh won a tight eighth frame before taking the decider with a 60. He’ll play Widnes’ Andrew Higginson in the next round as he defeated Craig Steadman 5-2.

Defending champion Mark Allen, who also won this tournament in 2012, made it through unscathed, thanks to a 5-2 win over Cleveland potter Mike Dunn, with a top break of 127. There was more bad news for Dunn on Monday as he found out later that day his club in Hartlepool had been badly damaged by a fire and looks set to be demolished.

World number one Neil Robertson also progressed as he beat Welshman Jamie Jones 5-1. Robertson also edged closer to a century of centuries this season as a break of exactly 100 in the fifth saw him increase his tally to 89.

Recent Asian Tour event four winner Stuart Bingham ensured his progress to the last 32 with a 5-3 win over the experienced Steve Davis. Davis won the opener with a 74 but Bingham took a grip of the match by winning the next three with top runs of 84 and 103 and went onto take the match with a 67 break in frame eight.

Mark Selby is through to the next round after a tough 5-3 victory over Anthony Hamilton and will meet Noppon Saengkham in the last 32 after he beat Gerard Greene 5-2.

Ryan Day showed his grit as he fought back from 4-1 down to beat Gloucester’s Michael Wasley 5-4 in the evening session and he’ll face Graeme Dott in the next round after he beat Tian Pengfei 5-2.

Also through to the last 32 are Michael White, who defeated Aditya Mehta 5-3, Pankaj Advani, who beat Xiao Guodong 5-4, Barry Hawkins, who also needed a decider to see off Matt Selt, and Mark Davis who whitewashed amateur Adam Wicheard.

Three wildcard round matches were played on Monday as well, with Scott Donaldson beating Lin Shuai 5-1 and Rory McLeod beating Zhao Xintong by the same scoreline.

However Leeds amateur Sanderson Lam, who beat Dave Harold in the qualifiers before Christmas, was denied a first round match against Judd Trump as he was beaten 5-3 by Chen Zifan.

13-year-old wildcard entry Yuan Sijun was given a walkover victory over Jamie Burnett and faces Mark Williams on Tuesday.