Defending champion Mark Williams and world number one Zhao Xintong are among the players who have already crashed out of the 2026 Shenzhen Open.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and Ding Junhui were also sent packing as the held-over fixtures from the round of 64 took place across Monday and Tuesday.
Even though this is technically the inaugural Shenzhen Open, Williams was attributed reigning champion status as the event was a direct replacement for the Xi’an Grand Prix, which the Welshman won a year ago.
But the 51 year-old bowed out at the first hurdle after losing a dramatic deciding frame to Fan Zhengyi.
Zhao and Higgins were both pipped in 5-4 thrillers as well, the former suffering an unexpected reverse to Scott Donaldson and Higgins bowing out to David Grace by the same narrow margin.
For Zhao, it represents a second early loss in a row following his defeat to Oliver Lines at the English Open and continues a poor run of form generally since he claimed the world number one spot for the first time in his career.
Another home hero in Ding succumbed to a 5-4 loss as well with Ricky Walden heaping further pressure on the 15-time ranking event winner, whose provisional Race to the UK Championship ranking is way outside the top 16.
It was much more straightforward in O’Sullivan’s case, though, with the Rocket’s brief appearance ended through a 5-2 loss to Jiang Jun.
Several heavy hitters are still involved and remain in the hunt for the £177,000 top prize, meanwhile.
World champion Wu Yize survived an epic encounter with Jamie Clarke, finally emerging with a 5-4 win over the Welshman.
There were more comprehensive victories for Judd Trump, who thrashed Huang Jiahao 5-0, and Shaun Murphy – a 5-1 winner over Marco Fu.
Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Kyren Wilson were other notable players to make it safely through to the last 32.
Arguably the performance of the opening exchanges came from Chris Wakelin, who compiled three consecutive century breaks in a 5-3 success over rising star Liam Davies.
Barry Hawkins, Si Jiahui, and Michael Holt additionally reached the next stage.
With the held over fixtures complete, the tournament can get under way properly for players who already negotiated the qualifiers back in July.
Recent English Open champion Ali Carter, former world champion Stuart Bingham, and seven-time ranking event winner Stephen Maguire are among those who will be reentering the fray.
The next round commences during Tuesday’s third session of play.
Trump, who is the favourite in the outright market following Zhao’s demise, has been given a bye through to the last 16 after the withdrawal of Anthony McGill.
2026 Shenzhen Open
Round of 32 (bo9)
Fan Zhengyi vs Yuan Sijun
Jiang Jun vs Zak Surety
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Michael Holt
David Gilbert vs Kyren Wilson
Scott Donaldson vs Pang Junxu
Ben Mertens vs Jimmy Robertson
Stuart Bingham vs Chris Wakelin
Lei Peifan vs Neil Robertson
Judd Trump w/o Anthony McGill
Si Jiahui vs Gary Wilson
Jackson Page vs Mark Selby
Stephen Maguire vs David Grace
Shaun Murphy vs Hossein Vafaei
Barry Hawkins vs Elliot Slessor
Ali Carter vs Ricky Walden
Xu Si vs Wu Yize
Featured photo credit: WST
