China upset Irish

Da Hai Lin was the hero as China scored one of snooker's shock results in the Nations Cup tonight.

The 26-year-old unknown from Gansu gained a famous hat-trick of wins to help his team to a surprise 4-3 success over Northern Ireland.

And China's victory throws the unpredictable Group A wide open. Hai Lin, the first Chinese player to qualify for the world professional tour, defeated Gerard Greene 73-20 in a tense 23-minute decider.

He had earlier got the better of Terry Murphy by potting the final pink and black in frame three - and then teamed up with Marco Fu to beat Ulster skipper Joe Swail and Murphy in the doubles.

"Knowing he could do the business even if I lost gave me extra confidence and that was important," said world number 15 Fu.

"We didn't expect to beat Northern Ireland because Joe Swail is a top 16 player and Terry Murphy is top 32. But this is a great result for Chinese snooker," added the Hong Kong-born star.

China, 100-1 tournament outsiders and beaten 4-1 by defending champions England last Saturday, can qualify for the semi-finals by beating Republic of Ireland on Thursday.

Northern Ireland now need to send the holders crashing out of the competition tomorrow in order to reach the last four themselves.

Earlier, the Irish coasted into a 2-0 lead through Greene and Swail but they couldn't maintain their momentum as they suffered a China crisis.