The second round of the World Grand Prix in Preston produced a handful of riveting matches and surprising results.

Reigning champion Shaun Murphy progressed but a number of big names, including Ronnie O'Sullivan, dropped out of the competition in just their second match of the week.

Robertson and Hawkins find their form

O'Sullivan found Neil Robertson in much-improved form as the Australian crushed him 4-1.

A break of 80 gave Robertson the lead before he pounced on a re-rack to formulate a 70 in frame two. O'Sullivan edged a tight fourth frame but lost the contests either side of that rack as four half centuries saw Robertson comfortably progress.

Judd Trump found himself on the wrong end of the same scoreline as he crashed out to one of snooker's form players, Barry Hawkins. Trump made a break of 107 but was out-classed by Hawkins who scored at least 65 in all of his four winning frames.

Robertson showed his quality after struggling against Ricky Walden in the opening round (photo: Getty Images)
Robertson showed his quality after struggling against Ricky Walden in the opening round (photo: Getty Images)

Murphy and Ding throw up a classic

Shaun Murphy against Ding Junhui was arguably one of the most exciting contests on paper and it did not disappoint. Each frame saw a half century break, with Ding opening an early two frame advantage.

Murphy struck back with two of his own before Ding put himself one frame away from the last eight. Yet the reigning champion dominated the final two exchanges as he edged his way through.

However, even that contest was trumped in terms of nerves, if not quality, in the match between Ali Carter and Mark King.

With just one half-century break across the seven frames, neither player took control of a tactical second round game that went right to the wire. Eventually, King nudged his way over the line by potting the final black.

Joe Perry and Liang Wenbo defeated Martin Gould and Mark Allen respectively in final-frame deciders, whilst Marco Fu and Ryan Day also progressed. It leaves a quarter-final schedule as follows:

1 - Joe Perry - Liang Wenbo

2 - Neil Robertson - Barry Hawkins

3 - Mark King - Marco Fu

4 - Ryan Day - Shaun Murphy

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