Zhang Anda secured a shock 6-5 victory over world number three Zhao Xintong in the opening round of the China Open, deciding a tightly contested frame with a respotted black ball as the tiebreaker.
Zhang, ranked 19th, trailed 3-0 in frames before mounting a comeback to lead 5-4. Zhao, last year's world champion, forced a deciding frame that ended dramatically after both players reached the black with the score level. Zhang potted the black to trigger a respot, ultimately prevailing in the tiebreaker situation.
"Today was just my day," Zhang said. "I hope that I can go far, I don't want them again. I was too nervous." He will now face Chris Wakelin of England in the next round.
Zhao acknowledged a poor performance. "I made far too many mistakes today and I probably didn't deserve to win," he said. "I had prepared well for coming to Shanxi this time, and I didn't expect to lose in the first round. I played too badly and there was nothing I could do about it."
In another opening-round upset, world number five John Higgins lost 6-4 to Stuart Bingham, the 2015 world champion.
