Watch: O’Sullivan takes off shoes mid-frame in World Open qualifier
Mark Selby was dumped out of the German Masters in the first round after a stunning 5-1 defeat to Marco Fu in Berlin.
Fu seized the initiative straight away with some fine early snooker and took the lead with a break of 60, before edging a closer second frame.
Fu was down in the third, but a break of a break of 76 was enough to move 3-0 ahead after clearing up to the blue.
After Fu broke at the start of the fourth frame, Selby potted a brilliant a long red before a safety battle ensued with the reds still tightly packed.
Selby worked his way up to a break of 12 after being thwarted by a long blue in a cagey frame, before Fu returned to the table and cleared up to the black in an impressive clearance of 41 to go 4-0 ahead and move within one frame of victory.
Selby won the next frame with a clearance of 66 to finally get off the mark, before eventually being thwarted by the black with four reds left on the table.
What followed was quite simply majestic from Fu, finishing with a break of 98 and just missing out on a yellow at the top pocket to secure an emphatic victory.
Fu’s reward in round two is a match against Alfie Davies on Tuesday evening.
Defending champion Ali Carter scraped through his first round test 5-4 against Michael White.
White came from 4-2 behind to force a deciding frame, which Carter edged to continue his German Masters defence.
Breaks of 64 and 62 gave Carter a 3-1 lead before White pulled a frame back to stay in contention.
Carter knocked in a match-best break of 89 to regain a two-frame cushion and move to within a frame of victory, but White dug deep to pull level, equalising with a break of 85.
With his crown on the line, Carter squeezed through 69-40 in the final frame to set up a second round tie against Peng Yisong.
Shaun Murphy let a 3-0 lead slip to crash out in the opening round.
Xu Si claimed five frames in a row following a dominant Murphy start to shock the Englishman and book his spot in the next round.
The Chinese player rubber-stamped his stunning comeback with a break of 131 in the seventh frame to take the lead for the first time in the match before sealing victory.
Elsewhere, Barry Pinches was beaten 5-2 by Belgian player Julien Leclercq.
The German Masters starts on January 29 and is live on Eurosport and discovery+.
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