14-year-old amateur Ben Mertens caused a huge upset when he defeated former world number three James Wattana in a one-point thriller in the BetVictor Shoot Out - where Jimmy White defeated 11-time women's champion Reanne Evans.
Amateur wild card Mertens, from Belgium, reached the last 64 of the Shoot Out in the most dramatic fashion, as Wattana, a player 35 years older,ran out of time when trying to win the match.
Talented teenage potter Mertens built a lead of 29 points at 60-31 before Wattana had a chance to clear up but ran out of time when just 59-60 behind and needing to just pot the pink to win.
“It’s crazy, it was lovely,” said Mertens. “I just wanted to enjoy the match, but I won. It’s very nice to have a wild card for this event and I’m looking forward to my next match. Luca (Brecel) is one of my idols and I learned a lot from playing with him. He told me to enjoy it.”
Michael Georgiou got the defence of his title underway by beating Peter Ebdon 67-37, while Kyren Wilson came from 60-0 down to beat Ian Burns by a single point.
Ricky Walden made a fantastic break of 132 to beat 12-year-old Liam Davies. That was the second highest break ever in the Shoot Out, topped only by the 135 from Martin Gould in 2012.
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Barry Hawkins, who won this event in 2012, beat Simon Lichtenburg 68-7 while European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson made a 63 to beat Zhang Jiankang.
Germany’s top player Lukas Kleckers beat Jamie O’Neill 64-0 while 2015 Shoot Out winner Michael White made a 67 to beat Andrew Higginson.
The world ranking event at the Watford Colosseum runs until Sunday. All matches last a maximum of ten minutes, with a shot clock of 15 seconds for the first five minutes and ten seconds for the last five.
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