Judd Trump eased his way through to the last 32 as the venue stages of the 2024 Northern Ireland Open commenced on Sunday in Belfast.
The defending champion, who has lifted the Alex Higgins Trophy a record four times, was hardly tested during his 4-0 outing against Ishpreet Singh Chadha.
Trump surrendered just 30 points as he raced into the next round at the Waterfront Hall with breaks of 112, 72, and 65.
Several of the higher-seeded contenders weren’t able to last long in the season’s seventh ranking event, however.
Mark Selby was the biggest casualty on the table with the recent British Open champion suffering a 4-3 reverse against Louis Heathcote.
Selby opened the affair with a run of 81 but couldn’t score heavily thereafter with fellow Leicester potter Heathcote, ranked 67 positions lower in the world, taking full advantage.
World number 12 Gary Wilson also crashed out following a 4-1 loss to veteran Mark Davis, and there were unexpected exits too for David Gilbert and Ryan Day.
The latter lost to up-and-coming teenager Stan Moody for the second time this month, the 18 year-old contributing 108 and 105 century breaks in another fine display.
Gilbert, who had been enjoying a reasonably strong start to the 2024/25 campaign, was dumped out by China’s Lei Peifan.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, meanwhile, will be taking no part in the tournament at all after it was announced that the Rocket had withdrawn, citing medical reasons.
It’s the third tournament in a row that O’Sullivan has skipped following absences at both the British and Wuhan Opens, and it’s the second year in succession that he has not participated in the Northern Ireland Open.
Long Zehuang, who surprised many by reaching the semi-finals in Wuhan just over a week ago, is the beneficiary and moves directly into the last 32.
Elsewhere, 2023 world champion Luca Brecel secured a morale-boosting victory as he fought back from 2-1 behind to beat He Guoqiang in a deciding frame.
This year’s Crucible runner-up Jak Jones enjoyed a much more comfortable time of it, the Welshman comprehensively ousting Alexander Ursenbacher with a whitewash win.
Among the other higher-profile names to make it through their opening tests of the week were Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham.
Murphy compiled a high break of 118 as he fought his way back from 2-0 behind to deny Jiang Jun, while Bingham overcame Scott Donaldson.
Robert Milkins, Zhou Yuelong, Pang Junxu, and Matthew Selt safely qualified for the next round as well.
On Tuesday, the round of 64 continues with former champion and home favourite Mark Allen in action.
Xiao Guodong also makes his first appearance since winning the Wuhan Open earlier in the month, representing his maiden ranking success.
2024 Northern Ireland Open
Last 64 Results
Sunday, October 20th
Robert Milkins 4-2 Jordan Brown
Zhou Yuelong 4-3 Dominic Dale
Judd Trump 4-0 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Jak Jones 4-0 Alexander Ursenbacher
Matthew Selt 4-1 Lyu Haotian
Luca Brecel 4-3 He Guoqiang
Lei Peifan 4-2 David Gilbert
Stan Moody 4-3 Ryan Day
Stuart Bingham 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Louis Heathcote 4-3 Mark Selby
Pang Junxu 4-3 Yuan Sijun
Mark Davis 4-1 Gary Wilson
Shaun Murphy 4-2 Jiang Jun
Long Zehuang w/o Ronnie O’Sullivan
Schedule for Monday, October 21st
Last 64 (bo7)
10am UTC+1
Si Jiahui vs Tian Pengfei
Tom Ford vs Rory Thor
Joe O’Connor vs Elliot Slessor
1pm UTC+1
Xiao Guodong vs Jimmy Robertson
Neil Robertson vs Graeme Dott
Zhang Anda vs Martin O’Donnell
Following 1pm games
Hossein Vafaei vs Jimmy White
Ricky Walden vs Oliver Lines (L96)
7pm UTC+1
Barry Hawkins vs Matthew Stevens
Mark Allen vs Liu Hongyu
Stephen Maguire vs Anthony McGill
Following 7pm games
John Higgins vs Fan Zhengyi
Jack Lisowski vs Wang Yuchen
Click here to view the full Northern Ireland Open draw
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST