Snooker news - Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, John Higgins, Kyren Wilson suffer shock defeats in Belfast

ByEurosport

Updated 13/11/2018 at 12:48 GMT

Barry Hawkins is out of the Northern Ireland Open after suffering a surprise 4-3 defeat to world number 89 Chen Zifan in the first round of the Belfast tournament.

Mark Allen

Image credit: Getty Images

Four-times world champion John Higgins was knocked out, losing 4-2 to RoryMcLeod with English Open winner Stuart Bingham going down 4-2 to Peter Lines.

It ends Bingham's hopes of winning the £1m jackpot on offer for claiming all four titles in the Home Nations Series having claimed the English Open last month.

Local favourite and recent winner of the International Championship Mark Allen is also out on the opening day after suffering a dismal 4-1 loss to world number 90 Zhuang Niu, who made breaks of 122 and 71 with Masters champion Allen's 88 in the third frame merely enough to prevent the whitewash.

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Zhuang's fellow Chinese player Chen Zifan and conqueror of Hawkins had completed only one victory this season in a ranking tournament against Malta's Duncan Bezzina in the first round of the Paul Hunter Classic in August, suffering seven first-round exits in a morale-sapping sequence of defeats.

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But despite failing to make a 50 plus break against Hawkins at the Waterfront Hall, he somehow managed to eke out a final-frame victory over the former World Championship finalist, who looked slightly dazed in tumbling out after rolling in runs of 99, 92 and 80.

World number six Hawkins lost 9-8 to Mark King in the final of this event two years ago, but this was a far bigger shock against 26-year-old Zen, who also managed to upset Shaun Murphy in the first round in Belfast a year ago.

Kyren Wilson was also knocked out, the day after losing in a final-frame decider to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Champion of Champions final as he suffered a 4-3 defeat to Lee Walker.

Another shock first-round loser was Scotland's Anthony McGill, who watched opponent Alexander Ursenbacher piece together a highest knock of only 55 in a 4-0 loss.

2004 UK champion Stephen Maguire is also out. He went down 4-2 to world number 45 Michael Holt, who made runs of 92 and 52 to secure his place in the last 64.

But there were no such issues for defending champion and world champion Mark Williams, who produced a dominant 4-2 victory over world number 88 Alfie Burden, who squandered several chances among the balls.

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Williams saw Burden restore parity at 1-1 before breaks of 91, 69 and 91 carried him into the last 64 and a possible meeting with Ali Carter, who he overcame 13-8 in the last eight on his way to winning the world title in May.

RESULTS

Northern Ireland Open - first round

Stuart Bingham 2-4 Peter Lines
Luca Brecel 4-1 Raymond Fry
Billy Joe Castle 4-3 Graeme Dott
Jamie Clarke 1-4 Yuan Sijun
Mike Dunn 3-4 Tian Pengfei
Rod Lawler 3-4 Tom Ford
Thor Chuan Leong 1-4 Chris Wakelin
Rory McLeod 4-2 John Higgins
Paul Davison 1-4 Allister Carter
Noppon Saengkham 3-4 Mark Davis
Farakh Ajaib 1-4 Ian Burns
Alfie Burden 2-4 Mark Williams
Stuart Carrington 4-1 Xu Si
Lyu Haotian 2-4 Luo Honghao
Oliver Lines 0-4 Gerard Greene
Kurt Maflin 4-0 Ashley Carty
Stephen Maguire 2-4 Michael Holt
James Wattana 2-4 Liam Highfield
Daniel Wells 4-1 Zhao Xintong
Harvey Chandler 3-4 Xiao Guodong
Adam Duffy 0-4 Sam Craigie
Barry Hawkins 3-4 Chen Zifan
Anthony McGill 0-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
Akani Songsermsawad 4-0 Fan Zhengyi
Michael White 4-0 Mark Joyce
Zhang Yong 3-4 Li Hang
Li Yuan 3-4 Eden Sharav
Mark Allen 1-4 Niu Zhuang
Kyren Wilson 3-4 Lee Walker

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