John Parrott's hopes of enjoying a run at the Maplin UK Championship in York were ended swiftly and clinically by Mark Selby tonight.
The 1991 world champion became the first player to exit the tournament, suffering a crushing 9-1 defeat against one of snooker's most promising young players.
It was a disappointing way for Parrott, down to number 42 in the world rankings, to return to major tournament competition - for he had battled bravely to edge through his qualifying match.
David Gray, who beat Selby in the 2003 Scottish Open final and was runner-up in this event two years ago, cruised through 9-2 against Barry Pinches and will meet Matthew Stevens next.
The first opponent for defending champion Ding Junhui was also decided as Ryan Day hit back from 3-0 down to oust another Chinese player, Liu Song, 9-5 - the Welshman conceding only two points in the last four frames.
Ding and Day are due to play on Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the title-holder returns from Qatar where he is representing his country in the Asian Games.
But Day, who wrapped up his triumph against Liu with a 130 break, does not think the 19-year-old will be disadvantaged too much by his arduous schedule.
