Zhao Xintong wrapped up a comfortable 10-4 victory over Jak Jones to knock the 2024 runner-up out of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Both of last year’s finalists have exited the 2025 event in the first round, following defending champion Kyren Wilson’s defeat by Lei Peifan on Saturday.
Zhao will meet fellow Chinese player Lei in his next match for a place in the quarter-finals.
Trailing 7-2 overnight, Jones started the second session with a break of exactly 100.
He reduced his deficit further when Zhao missed a simple brown during what appeared to be a routine clearance that would have restored the 28-year-old’s five-frame advantage.
But Zhao won the next two with breaks of 70 and 55 to move 9-4 ahead and then compiled a break of 87 after returning from the mid-session interval to defeat the 16th seed from Wales.
Meanwhile, four-time champion John Higgins trails Joe O’Connor 5-4, with their first-round match being played to a conclusion from 19:00 BST.
English qualifier O’Connor got 12 reds and 12 blacks into a maximum attempt in frame seven, but landed awkwardly on the 13th red and had to settle for a break of 96 to take the lead in the match for the first time.
Later on Monday, Mark Allen will start 5-4 up against Fan Zhengyi (14:30), while 2016 runner-up Ding Junhui and two former semi-finalists – David Gilbert and Si Jiahui – will make their first appearances at the Crucible this year.