Defending champion Anthony McGill has been knocked out of the Snooker Shoot-Out after losing 103-0 to Mark Davies in round one on Thursday. The Scot beat Xiao Guodong in last year’s final to claim his second ranking event title but was clinically dispatched by the experienced Davies, whose break of 102 is the highest at this year’s tournament to date.

McGill was not the only big name to exit on the opening day of what can certainly be regarded as an unforgiving tournament, as 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy was beaten 67-0 by Barry Hawkins in a battle between two players who currently sit in the top eight of the world rankings. Stuart Bingham, who is continuing his return to the tour following a betting ban, was also in action on Thursday and he secured his place in round two with a routine 71-0 victory over James Silverwood. The 2015 world champion is competing at his first ranking event since October, but has already bettered his performance from last year, as he failed to make it beyond the first round 12 months ago. Mark Williams, who is one of the favourites to win the event at 16/1, is also through after he beat Li Hang 44-0.

The Welshman is enjoying something of a renaissance this season, winning two ranking event titles to date, including last week’s German Masters. Friday will see the first round of this year’s tournament reach a conclusion, with some of the highlights including Masters finalist Kyren Wilson taking on Ricky Walden, as well as Graeme Dott’s tussle with Yan Bingtao.

Snooker Shoot Out odds available at Dafabet.