Judd Trump crashed out of the World Championship on Wednesday after losing 10-8 to Rory McLeod in one of the biggest shocks in Crucible history.

Trump had been labeled as the pre-tournament favourite after a stellar season which saw him reach five ranking event finals, win two trophies, and rise to number two in the world rankings.

It all seemed to be going according to plan for Trump when he established a 4-0 lead early on but his concentration appeared to slip as McLeod battled his way back to a 5-4 first session advantage.

Trump would have been hoping to produce more free scoring snooker in the second session but it failed to materialise, with most frames becoming drawn out scrappy affairs which more suited his opponent’s laboured style.

It later transpired, when he returned from the final mid-session interval 7-6 behind, that Trump may have been suffering from a shoulder injury as he winced on several occasions while preparing to take his shots.

There was some opportunity for a reprieve when the clash overran during the mornin play with Trump 9-7 down, and the prospect that a rest could reignite his fortunes upon the game’s final resumption.

However, despite winning another frame to pull back to within one, McLeod dominated the 18th frame to win at the Crucible for only the second time on his third appearance in Sheffield. The result will certainly go down as one of the biggest upsets in the championship, with a confident Trump bullishly buoying up his chances in the build up to this week.

McLeod didn’t play particularly well himself, but he didn’t make it easy for his fellow Englishman and took advantage by winning a lot of the closer frames.

It may not have been pretty – in fact at times it was awful to watch with both players’ pot success in the mid-80 percentile – but McLeod will not care a jot about that as he moves into the last 16 to face Stephen Maguire.

Meanwhile, two further seeds also exited at the first hurdle with Graeme Dott and Xiao Guodong dispatching of Ali Carter and Ryan Day respectively.

Graeme Dott booked his place in the second round of the Betfred World Championship by defeating Ali Carter 10-7.

The 2006 World Champion has a tremendous record at the Crucible, having also been runner-up on two occasions. Dott has once again saved his best for snooker’s biggest stage. However, he has struggled in 2016/17 – today’s win sees him progress beyond the last 32 for the first time this season.

Defeat will be bitterly disappointing for Carter. It’s the first time he’s lost in the first round at the Crucible for 11 years.

With Trump out of the bottom quarter, Dott must now be considered a dark horse to launch another run deep into the marathon 17-day event given his pedigree over the longer format.

Xiao Guodong won a match at the Crucible for the first time by beating Ryan Day 10-4 in the opening round of the Betfred World Championship.

Qualifier Xiao outplayed 16th seed Day to set up a second round meeting with world number one Mark Selby, which starts on Saturday evening. Chinese cueman Xiao joins countrymen Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo, as well as Hong Kong’s Marco Fu, in a strong Asian contingent in the last 16 in Sheffield.

Day’s loss means that there won’t be a player from Wales in the last 16 of the World Championship for the first time since 1969.

The final two first round ties reached their halfway stages with Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins both in complete control.

The Australian leads debutant Noppon Saengkham 8-1 while Hawkins won six frames on the trot to establish a 7-2 cushion against Tom Ford.