Shaun Murphy loses to Lu Ning in China Open first round
- Published
Shaun Murphy suffered a shock defeat against 18-year-old qualifier Lu Ning in the first round of the China Open.
The Chinese teenager hit breaks of 114 and 119 on his way to a stunning 5-2 win against the former world champion.
After the match Murphy wrote on Twitter:, external "I can't really say much other than well played after that. I thought he was awesome."
Meanwhile, Ronnie O'Sullivan recovered from a poor start to overcome Marcus Campbell 5-4 in his opening match.
Campbell raced into a 3-0 lead, but O'Sullivan fought back and a superb break of 77 in the deciding frame put him through to the second round.
He will face a clash with Mark Williams, who eased to a 5-1 victory over China's Jin Long.
Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, who won the World Open in Haikou earlier this month, suffered a surprise 5-2 defeat against Ricky Walden.
World champion John Higgins claimed a 5-1 win against Rory McLeod and will now face Peter Ebdon, who beat Matthew Stevens 5-3.
Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter also progressed to the second round.
- Published30 March 2012