China Open Snooker 2016: Monday's Scores, Results and Updated Draw Schedule

Neil Robertson was eliminated from the 2016 China Open on Monday by Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham as the main draw of the tournament got underway.

In a 64-strong field, this competition is renowned for churning out thrilling matches and plenty of upsets. That reputation came to light on Day 1, as the former champion couldn’t find a rhythm against Saengkham, eventually losing 5-3. Elsewhere, John Higgins was a comfortable 5-2 victor over Zhou Yuelong.

Here’s a look at the China Open first-round schedule in full, the results from the matches played so far and a recap of how the action has panned out at the Beijing University Students' Gymnasium.

Morning Session
Afternoon Session
Evening Session
Alfie Burden	5-0	Joe Perry
Ian Burns	5-3	Guan Zhen
Stephen Maguire	5-3	Gary Wilson
Martin O'Donnell	5-0	Wang Yuchen
Neil Robertson	3-5	Noppon Saengkham
John Higgins	5-2	Zhou Yuelong
Graeme Dott	5-1	Matthew Stevens
Gerard Greene	1-5	David Gilbert
Jamie Jones	3-5	Dominic Dale
Michael White	1-5	Jack Lisowski
Robert Milkins	5-4	Ross Muir
Mike Dunn	5-4	Alan McManus
Michael Holt	5-2	Nigel Bond
Mark Joyce	5-2	Luca Brecel
Rory McLeod	5-0	Mitchell Mann
Chris Wakelin	4-5	Matthew Selt
Tiang Penfei	5-1	Niu Zhuang
Ricky Walden*	Walkover	Robin Hull

Updated draw schedule to follow. 

Monday Recap

With reigning champion Mark Selby deciding not to take part in this year’s competition, an already open field would have been buoyed by the fact a new champion will be crowned in 2016. And those hopes would have been fuelled early on Monday after some surprise results.

Robertson, a man fancied to go a long way at the tournament, fell at the first hurdle. The 2013 champion struggled with all facets of his game from the off against Saengkham, falling behind 3-1 early on. 

Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

But in frames five and six, the 2013 champion seemed to come to life, notching successive breaks of 106 to move back level in the contest.

Here’s a look at the second of those, squaring the game at 3-3:

Saengkham, just 23 years old and ranked 101st in the world, held his nerve superbly despite this surge. In what was his first-ever appearance in the main draw of this competition, the man from Thailand played with a maturity in the final two frames to notch what is surely the biggest win of his career to date.

In another shock, world No. 9 Joe Perry was also dumped out against Alfie Burden. While the latter is a very capable player, few would have expected him to grab a 5-0 whitewash triumph, with Perry—who has made it to the semi-finals of the Welsh Open and the World Grand Prix this season—well below his best.

As Matt from ProSnookerBlog noted, this victory gives Burden a better chance of qualifying for the World Championships later in the year:

Higgins is a player who has not had too much success at this competition down the years, although he did triumph when this event was the China International in 1999. Since then, he’s been runner-up on two occasions and will be keen to sample a long overdue title in Beijing.

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

The Scot looked calm and collected throughout his Round 1 win over Zhou Yuelong, and with no Ronnie O’Sullivan or Selby and Robertson out of the draw, too, he’s looking very much like a man who will be tough to beat this week.  

The afternoon session saw a further selection of enjoyable matches, with more shocks to savour. As Matt from ProSnookerBlog noted, two of the world's top-ranked players were sent packing:

The stanza also included a thriller between Robert Milkins and Ross Muir, with the former coming out on top 5-4 in a deciding frame. The 2006 world champion Graeme Dott is also through into the last 32, as he was a comfortable 5-1 winner over Matthew Stevens.