After the likes of Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson had suffered shock exits in the first round of the Shanghai Masters, it did not take long for the giant names of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump to follow suit in the following set of fixtures.
The Rocket fizzles out
O'Sullivan only just scraped through his first match against Ben Woollaston and he struggled to find his best form against Michael Holt. Despite the former multiple World Champion opening up an early 2-1 advantage, Holt responded with a century and two half centuries to win four consecutive frames and a place in the last eight.
In comparison Judd Trump was playing some excellent snooker, as he opened up a 3-0 advantage against Michael White after winning his eighth consecutive frame of the competition. Yet White dug deep to ground out the next five frames, including a vital seventh where he won by one point, to join Holt in the quarter-finals.
Local hero progresses
Following surprise package Mei Xiwen's eventual exit to Ryan Day, the home hopes were shifted firmly onto the shoulders of hero Ding Junhui. After a shaky start Ding found his best game to produce five consecutive half century breaks on his way to a 5-2 victory against the higher ranked Mark Allen.
Ali Carter was also in excellent form as he was another player to dispose of an opponent ranked above him. Four half century breaks in his five frame victories ensured the World Open winner never gave veteran John Higgins a sniff in a three frame winning margin. Stephen Maguire also capped another excellent day for he underdogs as he defeated Barry Hawkins 5-3 in a scrappy contest.
Stuart Bingham and Paul Hunter Classic Champion Mark Selby were the only players along with Ryan Day to win games they were expected to progress in, seeing off David Gilbert and Stuart Carrington respectively.