A NIGHT of upsets at the Betway UK Championship saw two top seeds tumble out of the tournament at the first round stage at the York Barbican.

World number nine Ding Junhui, twice a winner of the game's second biggest tournament, was defeated 6-2 by amateur Adam Duffy, while Michael White, the 15th seed, was humbled 6-5 by 115th ranked Sydney Wilson.

In a shock to rival one of the biggest in tournament history, Ding looked out of sorts from the very beginning as Duffy raced into a 3-0 lead.

The Chinese player narrowed the gap to 3-2 but Duffy dug in to reel off three frames in a row, capped by a brilliant pink in the eighth frame, to seal a famous victory.

Duffy said: "I am still in shock myself. I knew how well I was playing going into the game. I was so confident and I pulled it out of the bag.

“I have just been working really hard at the academy, where Ding is, and just putting loads of hours in. As long as I put the hours in, I know how good I am.”

On his tremendous pot to put him on the brink of a brilliant win, he added: “I just thought, the way the match was going, that if I didn’t go for that it would change.

“I knocked in a similar black, in the third frame, and I thought ‘I am playing well, I feel good, go for it’ and it went in. I thought he was going to come back. He’s a class player.

“I had to dig in, hope he missed a few, and he did.”

White, meanwhile, led 4-2 and 5-4 but couldn't close the deal as Wilson produced a gutsy comeback.

Wilson said: It’s a very good result and I am very pleased. I have struggled in the last few events so to beat a player like Michael is great for me and great for my confidence but the decider was bit edgy.

“I missed a few and he missed a few and, luckily, the important chance fell to me in the end. I battled pretty hard and that’s what I am pleased about.

“He was seeded 15 so that's great for me."

Elsewhere as the opening day came to a close, Liang Wenbo lost the first frame of his match against Gareth Allen and then won six in a row - ending in style with a century - and Joe Swail whitewashed Joel Walker.

Tom Ford defeated Scott Donaldson 6-1 and Anthony McGill, a quarter-finalist last year, got his campaign off to a strong start with a 6-3 success over James Cahill.

Jack Lisowski is also through – a 6-4 victor over Zak Surety.