Tournament favourite Mark Selby was one of several big names to fall at the China Championship on Friday but Ronnie O'Sullivan won.
Friday's round-up & results
Ronnie O'Sullivan has been slashed into for the Evergrande China Championship after avoiding the carnage in Guangzhou on Friday.
The world's top six players all crashed out as the outright market underwent a big shake-up.
The movers included our outright tip Shaun Murphy, who is into with our betting partners Sky Bet. He was put up at 25/1 by our Simon Crawford earlier this week.
O'Sullivan kick-started his comeback from 2-0 down with a break of 130 in the third frame and went on to win 5-3 against Dave Gilbert, who was unable to force a decider despite leading 54-2 in the eighth frame.
Tournament favourite and world number one Mark Selby was the highest-profile casualty. He led 4-3 against Zhou Yuelong despite managing a highest break of just 60 in the match, but crucially missed the brown along the top cushion in the decider and Yuelong cleared to the pink to seal a 5-4 win.
Scotland's Alan McManus produced a top break of 73 in frame two as he thrashed Ding Junhui 5-0, the out-of-sorts home favourite scoring a total of just 62 points in the first four frames.
A total clearance of 133 helped Tom Ford beat John Higgins 5-2, while Graeme Dott defeated world number two Judd Trump 5-3. He now faces O'Sullivan.
McManus, beaten by Ding in last year's World Championship semi-finals, told World Snooker's official website: "It’s a bit of a thrill, I must admit. “I’ve had some battles with Ding and usually I play decent against him. He was off colour tonight, I won a couple of close frames and that was the difference. He wasn’t scoring, which is unlike Ding, and I felt comfortable on the TV table."
In other games, Mark Davis beat Barry Hawkins 5-3 and Luca Brecel saw off Marco Fu 5-2. Mark Williams beat fellow Welshman Ryan Day 5-0 and Murphy was awarded victory over Anthony Hamilton by the same scoreline, Hamilton retiring with a back injury after losing the opening frame.
Friday's results
Afternoon Session
Mark Selby 4-5 Zhou Yuelong (Match 40)
Martin Gould 5-2 Mark Joyce (Match 41)
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Yan Bingtao (Match 42)
Anthony Hamilton 0-5 Shaun Murphy (Match 43)
Barry Hawkins 3-5 Mark Davis (Match 44)
Ali Carter 5-4 David Grace (Match 45)
Fergal O'Brien 5-2 Kurt Maflin (Match 46)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-3 David Gilbert (Match 49)
Evening Session
Alan McManus 5-0 Ding Junhui (Match 47)
Judd Trump 3-5 Graeme Dott (Match 48)
Mike Dunn 5-4 Allan Taylor (Match 50)
Luca Brecel 5-2 Marco Fu (Match 51)
Li Hang 5-4 Michael White (Match 52)
Matthew Stevens 5-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Match 53)
Ryan Day 0-5 Mark Williams (Match 54)
Tom Ford 5-2 John Higgins (Match 55)
Saturday's schedule
Afternoon Session (0700 BST)
Zhou Yuelong v Martin Gould (Match 56)
Stephen Maguire v Shaun Murphy (Match 57)
Mike Dunn v Luca Brecel (Match 61)
Mark Williams v Tom Ford (Match 63)
Evening Session (1230 BST)
Mark Davis v Ali Carter (Match 58)
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Alan McManus (Match 59)
Graeme Dott v Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 60)
Li Hang v Matthew Stevens (Match 62)
Click here for the full tournament results and daily schedule
