Pre-tournament favorite Luke Littler fell to a 2-1 defeat by Rob Cross on his debut within the World Grand Prix in Leicester.
Teenage star Littler made six maximums within the match however at instances struggled to get going within the double-start format regardless of levelling at 1-1 after dropping the primary set.
Cross impressively held his nerve towards the 17-year-old, ending with a bullseye within the fourth set to say solely his third victory within the match.
Englishman Cross, who gained the World Championship on his debut in 2018, will now face Germany’s Martin Schindler within the second spherical on Wednesday.
In the meantime, reigning champion Luke Humphries fought again from a set and two legs all the way down to beat Masters winner Stephen Bunting 2-1.
Bunting gained the primary 5 legs towards the world primary however missed a double 16 to win the match and watched on as Humphries took the following three legs to degree, earlier than pulling clear.
Humphries, who celebrated his maiden TV rating title with victory over Gerwyn Value 12 months in the past, is aiming to bidding to grow to be the third participant to retain it after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.
He now performs Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko, who defeated Dutch five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 2-1.
In Monday’s different outcomes, Nathan Aspinall defeated Ryan Searle 2-1, Schindler beat Brendan Dolan 2-0 and Ryan Joyce, Jonny Clayton and Ross Smith triumphed by the identical scoreline towards Josh Rock, Ritchie Edhouse and Gian van Veen, respectively.
