Shaun Murphy forfeits frame in loss to Mark Allen, Stuart Bingham through

The defending champion forfeited the sixth frame at Alexandra Palace when he failed to hit the reds three times in a row when he was not snookered.

It came after the world No 11 – Allen – had built breaks of 137 and 91 to establish a 3-2 lead.

The Northern Irishman did not look back after going 4-2 up and scored 104 to go within a frame of victory.

Although Murphy hit back with two frames, he couldn’t keep the momentum and denied that the forfeit cost him the match.

"All other options left him a guaranteed chance so I had to man up, take a deep breath and play the right shot,” he told the BBC. “Unfortunately I got it completely wrong.

"It was a cracking game. That match could have been the final of any tournament. Unfortunately for me it was the first round and I'm on my way home."

Stuart Bingham overcame Ding Junhui 6-4 to progress to round two.

Bingham, who beat Murphy in last year’s world championship final, shared the first two tactical frames with Ding.

The world champion passed up an opportunity to secure a maximum during frame three having missed a pretty presentable yellow as he came unstuck on 120.

However, he regained his composure to secure the next frame courtesy of a break of 60. Ding took the next two but Bingham won three of the remaining four frames to secure his spot in round two.

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