A review of the action on day one of the Northern Ireland Open as Mark Selby secured his place in the second round.
Gilbert suffers shock defeat
David Gilbert's wait for a ranking title goes on after a surprise 4-3 defeat to veteran Anthony Hamilton on Monday.
Breaks of 81, 64 and 80 helped Gilbert fight back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, but he went on to lose a tight sixth frame before Hamilton again edged the decider to progress.
Defeat for Gilbert further weakens the top section of the draw, headed by Judd Trump who will look to bounce back from Sunday's heartache in the Champion of Champions.
In the same section, Yan Bingtao beat Andy Hicks 4-2, while Marco Fu looked in decent touch with breaks of 60, 72 and 61 enough to see off Gerard Greene 4-1.
Murphy lays down the law
Among the more impressive winners on day one in Belfast was Shaun Murphy, breaks of 80, 95 and 76 seeing him bulldoze his way past Fraser Patrick in a 4-0 success.
In doing so, Murphy ended his Northern Ireland hoodoo, having suffered first-round defeats in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Selby safely through
Mark Selby was given a good workout by Xu Si before eventually prevailing 4-2.
Having claimed the opening event of the Home Nations Series, the English Open, Selby kicked off his Belfast bid with a polished display that featured breaks of 78, 64 and 73.
Si actually led 2-1 thanks to a run of 72 in frame three but Selby took control thereafter to set up a second-round meeting with Matthew Stevens, the latter having reeled off two century breaks in his 4-1 defeat of Chris Wakelin.
🗣️ "He's massively underachieved"@markjesterselby faces Matthew Stevens in round two of the https://t.co/ml8cQfQ1z2 Northern Ireland Open.
— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker) November 11, 2019
The Jester From Leicester beat Xu Si 4-2 this afternoon #NIOpen pic.twitter.com/5ZHLI52Rtb
In the same quarter, John Higgins fended off a fightback from 17-year-old Chang Bingyu, who rattled in breaks of 105 and 74 to get back to 3-2 down before the more experience man finally closed out the match.
Higgins could go on to face World Cup team-mate Stephen Maguire in the fourth round. Maguire, recovering from a fractured ankle, hardly had to come out of second hear to beat Declan Lavery 4-0.
Thepchaiya maintains hot streak
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh maintained his strong recent run of form with a comfortable 4-2 defeat of Mark King.
Having slipped 2-1 behind, Thepchaiya quickly turned the match on its head with breaks of 75 and 71 before edging a close frame six that sealed his victory.
Teenager Si Jiahui claimed another notable scalp as he whitewashed Hossein Vafaei 4-0 while Andrew Higginson beat Tom Ford by the same scoreline.
In the battle of the veterans, Mark Davis got the better of Mike Dunn 4-2.
Day and Ding crash out but better luck for Maguire
Ryan Day's struggles continued as he was dumped out by Harvey Chandler, the latter winning 4-1, while Michael Georgiou was beaten 4-2 by Ken Doherty.
Another huge shock on day one came in the shape of David Lilley's 4-2 victory over Ding Junhui, while teenager Jackson Page came from 3-1 down to beat Barry Pinches 4-3.
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