Drago beaten as Rocket falls to Pengfei

Tony Drago's hopes of making further progress in the Sanyuan Foods China Open were dashed yesterday when the Maltese pro went down 5-1 to Joe Perry in Beijing.

Perry was in a class of his own in the opening session which he won 4-0, compiling runs of 58, 68, 75 and 53 to open a comfortable lead.

Drago pulled one back as the second session got underway but Perry won the sixth frame to book a place in the second round where he meets Ali Carter this afternoon.

The biggest upset yesterday came when Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out of the China Open at the first round stage after a shock 5-3 defeat to wild card Tian Pengfei.

The Rocket gave up his chance of a Chinese double, having won the Roewe Shanghai Masters in September, as well as any hope of hanging on to his official World No.1 spot, as John Higgins will definitely be top dog in the rankings next season following this result.

O'Sullivan played at a rapid pace with little regard for safety, but more importantly missed a succession of easy pots, including a sitter of a black which would have made it 4-4.

"I thought I played OK, there were just two or three frames that I lost from a long way ahead, when Tian made good clearances," said the three-times world champion.

"I had a chance for 4-4 but I missed too many balls at crucial times. Apart from Shanghai and the UK Championship, this season I have been below the standard I set myself."

Another former world champion to bow out was Shaun Murphy who lost 5-2 to Nigel Bond.

The match was delicately poised at 2-2 but breaks of 59 and 46 put Bond 4-2 up, with the 44-year-old sealing the win in a scrappy final frame.