World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan secured his place in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters with a nervy 5-2 win over Stuart Pettman - as defending champion Dominic Dale bowed out.
The Rocket is aiming to clinch his third successive ranking event title this week but was given a test in his first-round match by the world number 62.
Preston player Pettman, who qualified through the wild-card round yesterday, levelled things up at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval thanks to a break of 116.
He also had a chance to take a 3-2 lead with a break of 31 but O'Sullivan clinched the win with breaks of 73, 60 and 86.
O'Sullivan said: ‘I felt nervous to begin with because I want to do well in this tournament.
‘The people in China have been good to me so I owe them something. I felt under pressure to win. Maybe I need to relax and enjoy it more.’
In the morning session, Dale was dumped out at the first hurdle by six-time world champion Steve Davis.
Dale, the world number 32, claimed last year's title with victory over Ryan Day but was pipped 5-4 by 52-year-old Davis.
Dale raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to a break of 69 in the second but Davis stormed into a 4-2 lead before being forced into a decider.
It was Davis who held his nerve to clinch victory with a break of 54 in the ninth frame, and he will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between Ding Junhui and Dave Harold on Thursday.
Former World Championship runner-up Jimmy White's fine run of form was halted by top-16 player Mark King who came from 2-0 behind to win 5-4.
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry was dumped out at the first hurdle, losing 5-4 to Ricky Walden.
Hendry said: ‘I'm very disappointed to lose because I love coming to China. But in the last few years I have not played well here.
‘There's no excuse, I just didn't play well enough to win. It's as simple as that. I just have to keep working hard and hope the results come.’
Australian potter Neil Robertson overcame Dublin’s Fergal O'Brien 5-2.
There was a stunning win for world number four Mark Selby who overcame 19-year-old Judd Trump 5-1 thanks to breaks of 88, 105, 85, 75 and 75.
Selby said: ‘I didn't miss a ball and had a 70-plus break in every frame. It's the first time I've played Judd so I didn't really know what to expect other than he's a dangerous player.
‘I reached the semi-finals here last year and would like to go one better. I enjoy coming to China in general and really enjoy the support here.’
World number five John Higgins also had an early win, beating Tom Ford 5-4 despite almost throwing away a 3-0 lead.
Joe Perry beat Matthew Stevens 5-1.
