Xiao becomes fourth Chinese player to reach snooker worlds second round

Xiao Guodong beat 16th seed Ryan Day 10-4 here on Wednesday to reach the second round of the World Snooker Championship for the first time in his career.

Xiao becomes the fourth Chinese player in the second round, following Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and Marco Fu. He will next take on world number one and defending champion Mark Selby.

Xiao, ranked 44th in the world, lost to Ali Carter 10-8 in 2014, his only other experience at Crucible. But he took command from the start, leading 6-3 after the first session and sealing the victory 10-4 in the night's second session.

Day's exit left no Welsh representation in the second round of the World Championship for the first time since 1969.

Second seed Judd Trump suffered a shock defeat to world number 54 Rory McLeod, who recorded a remarkable first-round 10-8 win.

McLeod, a 46-year-old 1000-1 outsider, led 9-7 when slow play meant the match had to be halted prior to Wednesday's afternoon session.

An out-of-sorts Trump won a scrappy opening frame when their match resumed in the evening, but the Leicester man sealed what he called "the biggest win of his career" to reach the last 16.

Earlier, former world champion Graeme Dott earned a 10-7 victory over two-time finalist Carter.

Australia's Neil Robertson, the 2010 champion, cruised into an 8-1 lead against World Championship debutant Noppon Saengkham of Thailand after the first session. Endit