The first seed to fall today was Graeme Dott who resumed trailing Joe Perry by 8-1 That quickly became 10-1 as the 2006 champion tamely exited the tournament.
As the screen was raised between the tables to leave the entire crucible concentrating on the other table few could have imagined the drama they were about to witness.Resuming leading Ding Junhui 5-4 Ryan Day won the opening frame to extend his advantage to 6-4.This seemed to kick Ding into action as he visibly upped a gear to reel off the next 5 and move within one of victory at 9-6. It seemed he had done all the hard work but Day had other ideas as he fought back to level at 9 all.In the decider it still seemed that Ding had weathered the storm only to miss a straight forward red with the rest.Day took full advantage and went on to record a famous victory.
In the aftermath a clearly disappointed Ding found fault with the table and the crowd who he accused of shouting out but this can be put down purely to giving a press conference so soon after such a crushing defeat.
In the afternoon last years finalist and this seasons UK champion Judd Trump resumed leading Dominic Dale 5-4.Trump looking a little healthier then he did yesterday morning when he was still in the grip of food poisoning still struggled to find his usual fluency and went to the mid session interval trailing 7-6.He once again rallied though and won the next two to regain the lead at 8-7.In the 16th Trump aided by a massive fluke made that 9-7 and following a couple of poor shots on the colours by Dale he cleared from the green to round off a 10-7 win.
Judd showed a level of maturity that he has maybe lacked in the past and you can't help bit be impressed by, if not his overall play,then his willingness to dig in when obviously struggling physically.
Another man struggling physically was World No.1 Mark Selby.Last month he was forced to withdraw from the Chins Open with a neck injury and he was clearly still suffering the effects of it as Barry Hawkins turned his 6-3 overnight lead into a 10-3 win.
This was desperately disappointing for Selby who deserves much credit for never giving an inch despite his obvious discomfort.Hawkins now faces Matthew Stevens in the second round.
In other action the last of the first round matches got under way with Mark Williams leading Liu Chuang 6-3 and Ali Cater leading the crucibles latest food poisoning victim Mrk Davis 8-1
Tomorrow see's the conclusion of these matches and the start of the round 2 action with Joe Perry starting out against Stephen Maguire and arguably the player of the tournament so far Neil Robertson taking on David Gilbert.
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