Magician Shaun Murphy has been left reeling after a shock first round defeat at the Welsh Open.

Murphy returned to form at the start of the year with a string of stunning performances at the Masters, that culminated in victory against world champion Kyren Wilson in the final - as he celebrated his first triple crown event win for a decade. But after being knocked out of the German Masters at the last 16 stage, the Magician fell at the first hurdle of the Welsh Open in Llandudno against Chinese youngster Ma Hailong.

Ma had raced into 2-0 lead in the best of seven clash before Murphy seemed to wake up - as he played some brilliant snooker, knocking in breaks of 127, 100 and 82 to take the lead himself. However his opponent, 21 years his junior, made a 77 to take the match to a decider. Murphy needed snookers in the decider and found two of them to keep his hopes alive, only for Ma to fluke the final red and secure a shock win.

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That left Murphy gutted as he spoke to the BBC immediately after the match. He said: "I feel sick, absolutely sick. But that’s the game isn’t it? That’s why we love it and hate it at the same time, in equal measure. The last two games I’ve lost, here and in Berlin, have both been deciders. I’ve not had a chance to win either of them. I thought when I got the two snookers that the snooker Gods might give me an opportunity but it wasn’t to be and we roll on.

"I thought it was a really good match and my opponent played really, really well. Take the last frame out of it, I thought he was excellent and I can only give him praise. I had two centuries and an 80-odd so it was a very high standard match. I have no regrets, I tried my best and I lost."