There was undoubtedly one result that captured the headlines in the second round of the China Open. As numerous top 20 players continued their quest towards the final stages, Ronnie O'Sullivan was shocked by number 43 seed Mark Joyce.
Walden, Carter and Gould also on their way home
O'Sullivan found himself chasing Joyce throughout and was not able to manufacture the lead during any stage in the nine frame contest. Two century breaks of 106 and 132 were not underpinned by any consistency and Joyce was able to hold his nerve, top scoring with a 137 in frame seven.
The Rocket was not the only top 16 player shocked in the last 32. Ricky Walden appeared to be cruising against his good friend Andrew Higginson, leading 3-0 and 4-1, before the number 47 seed struck back with two half centuries and a three-figure compilation in the final three frames to secure a 5-4 victory.
Number 12 seed Ali Carter also came unstuck against Michael White nine places his inferior, whilst number 17 seed Michael Gould was stunned by Tian Pengfei. Ben Woollaston has 51 places on Hossein Vafaei but lost in a final frame decider, whilst Daniel Wells followed his qualification victory over Marco Fu with a win against Matthew Stevens. Rory McLeod defeated Mike Dunn, setting up a last 16 clash with Vafaei that will ensure at least one player outside the top 50 will be in the quarter-finals.
Local favourite Ding leads a host of big names into the last 16
However, numerous top names looked in ominous form, with Ding Junhui winning his twelfth consecutive frame of the week as he whitewashed compatriot Zhou Yuelong. Judd Trump repeated that scoreline against Eden Sharav, earning his ninth consecutive frame success in the process.
Shaun Murphy lost just his fourth frame from 19 as he defeated Gary Wilson 5-1, a record equalled by Mark Selby as he eased passed Martin O'Donnell with the same score. Yet John Higgins has gone a step better, with just three frames lost, as his latest victory came with a 5-2 win over Mark Davis.
Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson and Stephen Maguire added to a star-studded last 16 in Beijing.