Glitzy Murphy shows he's up to the Cha-cha challenge of capturing second world crown but Doherty stunned by Wenbo

Liang Wenbo may not have had the impact of fellow countryman Ding Junhui, but the littleknown 21-year-old qualifier staked his own claim as another possible future 888.com title contender.

As first-round upsets go, maybe only Tony Knowles' 10-1 win over champion Steve Davis in 1981 and Stuart Bingham's defeat of heavy favourite Stephen Hendry in 2000 were bigger shocks.

Doherty played the match of his life in 1997 to topple Hendry 18-12 when the Scot was in his pomp, but his second successive first-round exit in Sheffield was an ominous sign for the popular Dubliner.

He starts next season outside the elite top 16 for the first time in 15 years, forcing him to play in the qualifiers to reach the 2009 finals and, at 38 years of age, he is approaching veteran status.

Doherty, beaten by Mark Allen 12 months ago but still seeded fourth, completed a poor season in unconvincing style and has not won a ranking title since the Malta Cup in 2006.

He said: "I don't know where I went wrong. He played with no nerves, like he'd been here more times than I had. He's raw but fearless and pots outrageous balls.

"I probably deserve to be out of the 16. I've had a good innings but it would be scary if this was my last Crucible. At least I got my hands on the trophy once. Who knows when I'll be back?"

Liang, who plays Joe Swail in the last 16, said: "It's my best win and it is a great boost to my confidence."

Even Ronnie O'Sullivan is not immune from the game's China syndrome. He leads 5-4 but found Liu Chuang a handful as the 17-year-old bounced back from 3-0 down to level 3-3.

Graeme Dott, another fallen former champion, succumbed to Joe Perry, a 10-7 winner against the Scot who had to be persuaded to play after withdrawing suffering from depression.

Shaun Murphy aims to lift his second world crown with a touch of style after dancing past Dave Harold with a sparkling 10-3 victory that lit up the Crucible stage.

The 2005 champion finished Harold off with a flourish yesterday but it was the previous evening's performance to lead 7-2 that really caught the eye.

Murphy's new suit, decorated with Swarovski crystals and stitched by Strictly Come Dancing tailor Jason Cutler, caused quite a stir but he insists his sartorial switch is a step in the right direction.

The provisional world No 1 reckons he and his rivals have been wearing the wrong trousers for too long.

He said: "Years ago players had different suits for evenings and I've been wanting to do the sparkling waistcoat-trouser thing for a while but couldn't. Then Willie Thorne took us to Strictly Come Dancing.

"It's just a bit of fun, I like to play with a smile on my face. We're on stage in a theatre, why not dress up? And yes, I'd love to do Strictly if it didn't clash with tournaments, but I'd definitely need lessons."

Harold insisted Murphy must step up his game: "He gave me a chance in every frame bar one but I was shocking. I wouldn't say he's among the favourites — he can't give O'Sullivan and Higgins those chances."