Murphy breezes through in China
Former world champion Shaun Murphy lost just one frame as he breezed through to the second round of the Bank of Beijing China Open.
Murphy’s opponent, Cao Xinlong, benefited from John Parrott’s withdrawal which handed him a bye through the wild-card round.
But he had little to offer against Englishman Murphy who powered through his opening match to win 5-1 and set up a last-16 clash with Australian Neil Robertson.
Scotland’s Graeme Dott, who won the world title in 2006, a year after Murphy’s Crucible triumph, also advanced to the second round.
Like Murphy, Dott was facing Chinese opposition, and he won through 5-3 against Yu Delu.
There was a Chinese winner though, and a surprise one, as 21-year-old Tian Pengfei overcame Hong Kong’s Marco Fu 5-2.
England’s Stuart Pettman beat the North’s Mark Allen 5-3 in today’s other early match.
