Related: Hunter falls at 1st hurdle at China Open

    

England's Jimmy White competes at the 2006 World Snooker China Open at Beijing University Students Gymnasium in Beijing, capital of China, March 21, 2006. Northern Ireland's Joe Swail defeated England's Jimmy White, and moved to top 16. (Xinhua photo)

BEIJING, March 21 -- Veteran Jimmy White became the surprising big-name casualty in the first round of the ongoing snooker China Open. So is local favorite Paul Hunter.

    The legendary player was leading 3-0 as he started his China journey Tuesday morning. However, Joe Swail, who entered the main draw after beating China's wild card player Liu Chuang on Monday, displayed a strong resistance.

    Swail seemed to be vulnerable in the first two frames and managed to gain a little confidence in the third frame though he was still trailing White. Swail began to launch his attacks in the fourth frame and after a few shuttles, left no chance for White to march on.

    White wasted several good chances to extend his lead, only to see Swail win one more frame.

    Swail continued his strong attacks to win the sixth and seventh frame to turn around the table and set the scores at 4-3.

    He then eased through the eighth frame, thanks to White's errors, to wind up the dramatic topple, 5-3, to reach the next round.

    

England's Paul Hunter competes at the 2006 World Snooker China Open at Beijing University Students Gymnasium in Beijing, capital of China, March 21, 2006. England's David Roe defeated compatriot Paul Hunter, and moved to top 16. (Xinhua photo)

Another match in the morning was staged between cancer-plagued Paul Hunter and David Roe, the wild card match winner.

    Roe started strong, taking the first two frames while Hunter won the third frame.

    The two traded the lead in the next five frames to set the scores at four each and took the game into a final decisive 9th frame.

    Both Roe and Hunter were quite cautious in the final frame. It took them 22 minutes to wind up the game, with Roe surviving the close contest to enter the final 16 at the cost of Hunter.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)