Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham bow out early in Guangzhou

Former world champions Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham crashed out of the Evergrande China Championship in the first round.

Robertson, the Hong Kong Open winner last month, lost 5-4 to Li Hang while Bingham, who claimed the world crown in 2015, also fell on the opening day in Guangzhou, beaten 5-3 by teenager Yan Bingtao.

Defending champion John Higgins had no problems as his 5-0 defeat of Lyu Haotian included a break of 129 and reigning world champion Mark Selby came through 5-1 against Luo Honghao.

Shaun Murphy won the last two frames to edge out Ken Doherty 5-4, while China’s number one Ding Junhui overcame Niu Zhuang 5-1.

There were also surprise first-round wins for Ian Burns and Mark Joyce, who beat Liang Wenbo 5-3 and Anthony McGill 5-2 respectively.