Shanghai surprise from Ebdon

Robertson: Knocked out

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Neil Robertson was dumped out of the Shanghai Masters in the opening round, the Australian suffering a 5-4 loss at the hands of Peter Ebdon.

The reigning world champion, who was playing in his first ranking event since his Crucible triumph, struggled for fluency in a scrappy encounter.

Ebdon's safety play proved the difference in the end, though the Englishman needed several attempts to finally put Robertson out of his misery.

Eventually a break of 62 saw the 40-year-old over the finishing line. He then blamed the table for the nature of the match and predicted flowing snooker will be at a premium for the rest of the tournament.

Tactical play

He said: "Any time you beat the world champion, it's an excellent result. Usually I like to stroke the balls around but you can't do that on this cloth.

"Whenever you try to use side, the cue ball gets thrown off. There will be more tactical play this week because we won't be as confident in potting and break-building."

Robertson put his poor display down to a lack of sleep since arriving in China.

"It's really disappointing. I've struggled to sleep since I've been here and maybe that's why my record in China is not very good," he said on www.worldsnooker.com.

"Peter's a tough draw and he had a bit of luck today - sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't. It wasn't an attractive game."

Big scores were also scarce in the clash between Jamie Cope and Steve Davis, the former eventually coming out on top by a 5-3 scoreline.

Neither player managed a half-century 50 break nor a frame score above 100. Cope settled matters with a run of 27 in the eighth frame.

Unstoppable Carter

Ali Carter faired better in his 5-3 victory over Dave Harold, knocking in three half-centuries with a top score of 77.

Chinese wildcard Mei Xi Wen was eliminated 5-2 by Mark Selby but provided some fleeting cheer for the home faithful with a break of 99, the best of the morning.

In the afternoon session there was even better news for the home crowd, China's Ding Junhui recovering from 4-1 down to defeat countryman Jin Long.

Former world champion Shaun Murphy also won four frames in a row to hit back from 3-1 down against Stephen Lee, while Martin Gould defeated Stephen Hendry 5-2. Mark King was a 5-3 victor over Joe Delaney.