Shanghai Masters day one review: Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui reach round two
Day one round-up from the Shanghai Masters...
Murphy up and running
Former world champion Shaun Murphy continued his bright start to the new campaign by beating Lyu Haotian 6-1 in the first round at the Shanghai Masters.
Murphy endured one of the worst campaigns of his career last season but give sign of a return to form when reaching the final of the International Championship last month and he looked in good touch again here, barely breaking sweat as he breezed into the second round.
Breaks of 79 and 83 saw Murphy race into a 2-0 lead and he added further contributions of 135 and 55 as Haotian had no answers to the 37-year-old.
Ding finishes strong
Ding Junhui won the last four frames of his first-round match with Zhao Jianbo to book his place in round two.
The match was all square as the players headed to the mid-session interval at 2-2 but Ding dominated proceedings upon the resumption, breaks of 71, 55 and 51 showing his game to be in good working order as he sealed his 6-2 victory.
Hawk downs Bingtao in thriller
Barry Hawkins and Yan Bingtao produced the best match of the opening day with the former just prevailing 6-5.
Despite Hawkins producing runs of 101 and 99, Bingtao led 4-2 thanks to breaks of 85 and 102 which had put him within two frames of the second round.
However, Hawkins responded with some wonderful snooker as he strung together breaks of 88, 61, 59 and 55 to force a deciding frame.
Both players had their chances in a nervy affair but it was Hawkins who held his nerve, completing a flawless clearance on the colours to win the game on the final black.
Lisowksi wins; Maguire out
Elsewhere, Jack Lisowki brushed aside Wu Yize 6-1 while Xiao Guodong beat Stephen Maguire 6-2 and Zhang Yi saw off Ali Carter 6-3.