There was a huge shock on the opening day of the 2019 World Grand Prix as Marco Fu beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2.

World number 25 Fu went into the match having not beaten the Rocket in nearly 10 years, a run that stretches back nine matches to the 2009 Welsh Open.

Not many people gave Fu much hope in this contest either, but the Hong Kong potter produced breaks of 61,52 and 66 to secure his place in the last 16 and inflict O’Sullivan’s first opening round defeat since he was knocked out by Michael Holt in the same competition back in 2016.

Fu, who is priced at 26.00 to go on and win the World Grand Prix, was relieved to finally bring his losing streak against O’Sullivan to an end, admitting merely playing well is not always enough to see off the five-time world champion.

“Going through ten years without beating him in tournaments is very hard to handle,” Fu was quoted as saying by World Snooker.

“It is a weird record. I had quite a good one against him in the early part of my career. It is very strange. Sometimes you don’t know what to expect. You can play great against him and still lose.”

The 41-year-old’s reward for reaching the second round will be a clash with Englishman Barry Hawkins, who comfortably dispatched of Ryan Day 4-1 in his opening match, thanks largely to breaks of 72, 130 and 143. Fu’s record against the Hawk is slightly better than the one he boasted against O’Sullivan, as he has won each of the last two meetings between the two players.