Mei Xiwen raced to a 4-0 lead before thumping Englishman Alfie Burden 5-2 in the tournament's opener. Xiao Guodong was close with a 5-3 demolition of another Briton Tom Ford. Li Hang edged past Ian Preece 5-4 as a full house of around 2,000 fans enjoyed an eventful day at the Beijing College Student Stadium.

Ding Junhui took the table late in the evening for a 5-3 win in a marathon game.

The 19-year-old Jiangsu Province native complied a 130 break in the fourth frame to grab a 3-1 lead against Adrian Gunnell. But the Englishman rallied to narrow the lead to 2-3 with a century in the fifth frame. In the marathon sixth, Ding broke clear and snatched 4-2 overall after 40 minutes of see-saw action.

Ding almost pulled off a 5-2 win but a mishit on green three cost him the seventh frame. He evntually sealed the win in the decisive final frame.

In the other two late matches, Yu Delu polished off Joe Jogia 5-1 while Zheng Peng suffered a 2-5 defeat at the hands of Jimmy White.

In pool, Pan Xiaoting entered into the record book by becoming the first Chinese to win on the prestigious Women's Professional Billiards Association circuit. She claimed the Great Lake Classic crown after a 7-2 victory in the final in Michigan City, Indiana, US.