There are not many names that can be mentioned in the same breath as Mark Selby in the modern game, yet Liam Highfield was on hand to inflict a shock defeat on the World number one. Ranked a mammoth 102 places below Selby, Highfield won a final frame decider to progress into the last 32.

A great day for the outsiders

Despite compiling breaks of 89 and 99, Selby never looked in control of the contest against Highfield. He led for just one frame of the seven and was eventually muscled out by a resilient Highfield.

Highfield leads a list of six players ranked outside the top 100 into the final 32 as snooker continues to show its unpredictability. Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn was in excellent form as he despatched another big name in Michael White. The Welshman had conceded just a single point in his opening match but could only muster one frame as the World number 110 made four half century breaks.

White was also stunned (photo: Getty Images)
White was also stunned (photo: Getty Images)

Six places higher up the ladder, Anthony Hamilton recovered from 2-1 down to Matthew Selt on his way to a 4-2 victory. He will join Fraser Patrick, Ian Preece and the lowest ranked player left, Jak Jones at 111, in the third round.

Fu and Maguire out

Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire were two more casualties as they were defeated by Tom Ford and Ryan Day respectively in challenging early matches. John Astley and Rod Lawler joined them on the unwanted list of players dumped out by lower ranked opponents.

Ding Junhui continues as the only player not to lose a frame and could be the man to defeat after two consecutive tournament victories and extending a 13 match winning streak.

The likes of Ricky Walden, Mark Allen, John Higgins and Neil Robertson also added to the top ten contingent as they qualified against their respective opponents.

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