Ding and Higgins crash out on day one at Xi’an Grand Prix
Ding fell at the first hurdle on Monday (Xinhua / Alamy Stock Photo)
Ding Junhui crashed out of the Xi’an Grand Prix after a 5-4 defeat by Alfie Burden, while John Higgins also fell at the first hurdle on Monday.
The home favourite and four-time World champion were the highest-profile casualties on day one of the inaugural event at Qujiang E-sports Centre.
Ding made a break of 58 on the way to a 2-1 lead over Burden, who responded with runs of 64 and 81 to move ahead for the first time at 3-2.
The Dragon had contributions of 88 and 110 as he twice came from behind to force a decider, but the left-handed Londoner held his nerve for an impressive win.
Higgins was denied by another left-hander in Sunny Akani who, just months after sealing his return to the Tour, recovered from 4-3 down to prevail in a deciding frame.
Tom Ford also bowed out on the opening day, the world number 13 going down 5-1 against 17-year-old Gong Chenzhi.
There were no such problems for Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, who were 5-0 winners over Wang Yuchen and Ma Hailong respectively.
Mark Selby hit breaks of 136 and 111 in his 5-3 win over Wang Xinbo as reigning World champion Kyren Wilson saw off Haris Tahir 5-2.
World number one Mark Allen had breaks of 111, 70 and 66 as he defeated Liu Hongyu 5-2, while a timely 100 completed Mark Williams’ victory over Mark Davis by the same scoreline.
Jack Lisowski was in typically fine scoring form with breaks of 126 and 124 on the way to a 5-2 success over Joe Perry.
International Championship winner Zhang Anda was a commanding 5-1 winner over Oliver Lines, as Stuart Bingham produced runs of 111, 80 and 66 on the way to his own 5-1 victory over Zhou Jinhao.
Jak Jones – last season’s Crucible finalist – hit a break of 134 to complete a 5-3 win over Tian Pengfei while Gary Wilson, who triumphed at the Scottish Open and Welsh Open last term, sealed his 5-1 success against Ben Mertens with a 128.
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Xi’an Grand Prix 2024 | Day One Results
Monday August 19
Qualifying Round
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Haris Tahir
Zhang Anda 5-1 Oliver Lines
Mark Selby 5-3 Wang Xinbo
Jamie Clarke 5-0 Cao Jin
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Zhou Jinhao
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Wang Yuchen
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ma Shaojun
Mark Allen 5-2 Liu Hongyu
Ding Junhui 4-5 Alfie Burden
Round One
Amir Sarkhosh 3-5 Si Jiahui
Gong Chenzhi 5-1 Tom Ford
Matthew Selt 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Zak Surety 3-5 Hammad Miah
Jak Jones 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Jack Lisowski 5-2 Joe Perry
Jordan Brown 2-5 David Gilbert
Ben Mertens 1-5 Gary Wilson
John Higgins 4-5 Sunny Akani
Dean Young 4-5 Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor 2-5 Chris Wakelin
Mark Davis 2-5 Mark Williams
Judd Trump 5-0 Ma Hailong
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Artemijs Zizins
Matthew Stevens 2-5 Ryan Day