Hendry has won four Grand Prix titles - the last in 1995

World champion Dott was beaten 3-1 by qualifier Andrew Norman in his final group match, while Hendry lost 3-2 to Fergal O'Brien in his fourth clash.

Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion, joined them on the casualty list when he lost his final match to Ali Carter.

Murphy was 2-0 up but missed an easy red and Carter hit breaks of 79 and 58.

Highlights: Grand Prix round-robin stage

"I thought it was in when I hit it and I was up walking round the table," said world number five Murphy, who had earlier kept his hopes alive with a gutsy 3-2 comeback win against qualifier Jamie Jones.

"I'm absolutely devastated. When it came to the deciding frame I couldn't get the two earlier blows of losing those frames out of my head."

Dott has criticised the best-of-five format throughout the tournament.

There's nothing wrong with the format, I think it's good for the game Stephen Hendry

"I've never liked it from the minute it was decided," he said. "The whole format has to be looked at.

"My group proved that. I knew I couldn't go through in my group even if I won, so it was bizarre out there.

"As soon as Andrew won two frames I didn't want to win. I'd have felt worse if I'd have won. It's not right.

"Why don't we just toss a coin for ranking points? It's so stupid."

But Hendry, who criticised the tournament's tables following his defeat by Matthew Stevens on Monday, defended the format.

"There's nothing wrong with the format, I think it's good for the game," he said.

"Perhaps the only thing we could maybe do is play the whole thing in less time than we have done."

606: DEBATE I think the shorter format is great - it really keeps the players on their toes AD 606: Have your say

Jamie Cope, another qualifier, joined Norman in the knockout stages with a 3-2 win over David Roe, and now plays Robert Milkins.

Alan McManus beat John Higgins 3-1 to leapfrog the defending Grand Prix champion in their group, but both players safely qualified for the next stage.

Higgins had a chance for a maximum but broke down on 120 by missing a long pot on the yellow, and McManus edged victory with breaks of 47 and 77.

Mark Selby is also through to the next stage after a 3-0 win over Matthew Stevens.