Doherty eases to win in Shanghai

The Irishman was always in control and a protracted safety exchange in the fourth frame only delayed the inevitable as he eased to a 5-0 win.

Doherty, who has slid to 44th in the world, faces Neil Robertson next.

Englishman Andrew Higginson crashed out despite taking the first frame against China's Tian Pengfei, losing 5-1.

Tian responded with a fine display of break building to take five frames on the trot and reach the first round proper, which starts on Tuesday.

Scotland's Marcus Campbell had a similarly easy passage past China's Jun Tang, running out a 5-1 winner to book a first-round meeting with his compatriot Stephen Hendry in the season's first ranking event.

But another Scot, Graeme Dott - who, like Doherty, is aiming to get back into the world's top 16 players from his current ranking of 28th - had a struggle before getting the better of Mohamed Shehab from the United Arab Emirates 5-3.

Elsewhere, Chinese star Liang Wenbo booked his last-32 place with a 5-2 defeat of England's David Gilbert to set up a match against Peter Ebdon, while England's Matthew Selt booked a match-up with world champion John Higgins with a 5-0 whitewash of Shi Hanqingt.

Nigel Bond had to work hard for his 5-4 win over China's Yu Delu, but Kent's Gerard Greene led 3-0 and 4-2 against Li Yan only to crash out 5-4.

The defending champion is Ricky Walden, who enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2008-09, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Shanghai final.

Read in full at the BBC snooker website