STEPHEN MAGUIRE suffered a shock exit on day one of the Haikou World Open on Monday.
The world no.8 was beaten 5-4 by Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un Nooh after a dramatic deciding frame to become the first member of the top 16 to be knocked out of the tournament.
Un Nooh missed a short range red on 60 in the decider to let Maguire in for a chance to clear. The Scot successfully dislodged the yellow off the side cushion but finished too close to the green to obtain ideal position on the brown. He overcut the brown and Un Nooh cleared to the pink for victory.
Mark Allen, champion in Haikou for the last two years, kicked off his match against Mike Dunn with a 127 break and came through a 5-2 winner.
“I’ve got a good record here and I want to keep it going but I need to play better,” said Allen, whose top 16 seeding for next month’s World Championship is not yet secure.
World no.2 Mark Selby survived a marathon contest with Anthony Hamilton, which was taken off with Selby leading 4-3 to prevent it running into the afternoon session.
When they resumed, Selby swiftly won the eighth frame to clinch a 5-3 victory after three hours, 52 minutes of play.
“We both struggled with the conditions. The balls were different to those we are used to in the UK,” Selby said.
Matt Selt’s comeback was in vain as he recovered from 4-0 down to force a decider with Barry Hawkins only to lose 5-4, with Hawkins clearing from green to black to clinch a dramatic win.
Photographs by Monique Limbos.