Adrian Gunnell produced a big upset when he dumped Shaun Murphy out of the Grand Prix in the first round.
World Champion to face final rematch in second round in Glasgow
Adrian Gunnell produced a big upset when he dumped Shaun Murphy out of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix in the first round, while Ronnie O'Sullivan faces a rematch of last year's final with Marcu Fu in round two after beating Liang Wenbo 5-2.
Former world champion and current world number three Murphy was stunned by Gunnell as he went down 5-3 in his opening match in Glasgow.
36-year-old Telford potter Gunnell booked his place in the last 16 of a ranking event for just the fourth time, and the first outside Asia, with his superb victory.
Murphy has now not won at a ranking event match since last season's World Championship and has lost all three first round matches.
Speaking after his latest defeat, the 26-year-old said: "It's not been the best start of the season; sometimes losing can be a habit just like winning can," said Murphy.
"But even at 4-1 down I thought I was going to win. I fancied the job. I think it was just one of those matches that I was destined not to win."
Reward for Gunnell now comes in the form of a match with veteran Steve Davis in the second round of the Grand Prix.
Rocket power
"Steve Davis was the reason I started playing snooker, so I'm looking forward to playing him," said Gunnell.
Another veteran still involved in the tournament is John Parrott, who joined 'The Nugget' in the last 16 thanks to a 5-3 victory over Mark King, and the former world champion now goes up against Ali Carter.
World champion O'Sullivan missed a host of easy pots as the Chinese star moved into a 2-0 lead - looking by far the more comfortable of the two.
O'Sullivan offered up more chances in the third frame but after Liang missed his opportunity to go 3-0 up, 'The Rocket' took the frame and that started a five-frame streak that powered him into the second round.
A 56 from O'Sullivan in the fourth frame levelled the scores and he went on from there to pull away and hit a fine break of 103 to seal the match 5-2 and his passage into the second round.
"At 1-0 and 2-0 everyone must be thinking I wanted to go home. It was embarrassing, my shots were amazingly off target," said O'Sullivan.
Tough match
"I'm capable of worse than that! It lasted for two and a half frames thankfully.
"It got a little bit better, I hate losing, I'm stubborn. It still bothers me when I play like that the thing that keeps me going is that I can play well occasionally."
The open draw format of the Grand Prix has thrown up a rematch of last year's final with O'Sullivan to face Marco Fu in the second round.
The Hong Kong cueman beat O'Sullivan 9-6 in the final 12 months ago.
Ali Carter edged a tight 5-4 victory over Dave Harold to set up a second-round tie agaianst Parrott.
"It was a very tough match," said carter. "Dave played very well, he had some good breaks, so it was nice to win.
"I'm hoping to enjoy my snooker this season, get into the top four in the rankings and win some cash."
