World No. 2 Stephen Maguire of Scotland was knocked out of the World Snooker China Open 5-3 in the second round by Northern Ireland's Mark Allen?in Beijing?on Thursday.

Maguire, the champion here two years ago, opened the match by winning frame one with break of 52, while Allen stormed back to take the next four frames with two runs of 63 and led by 4-1.

Maguire saved two match points with two breaks of 64, but failed to equalize the scoreline as Allen wrapped up the eighth frame to seal the victory.

It is Allen's third quarter-final of the season. "I'm very keen to go further this time," said the 24-year-old, "though I'm not at my best I feel happy to get through."

Chinese wildcard Tian Pengfei, who surprisingly stunned Ronnie O'Sullivan last night, didn't manage to go further as he was beaten by Mark King from England 5-3. Tian fought back to level at 2-2 after King snatched the opening two frames. Though the wildcard battled back again at 3-3, King took the last two frames with a top break of 91. King will face Ali Carter from England, who beat Joe Perry 5-3 in the second round.

"I didn't hit my form at the beginning. The match was a little bit scrappy, "said Tian,"The players here are all top-ranked, therefore every match is a tough one."

Another home favourite Marco Fu from Hong Kong of China came from a 3-0 down to outplay Nigel Bond 5-3. Fu admitted the champion of the Champion League he gained last week boosted his confidence.