Graeme Dott ousts Higgins in battle of the Scots

Higgins admitted he was "a man on a mission" after claiming his third UK Championship crown last month - his first major tournament triumph since serving a six-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute. However, he was brought crashing down to earth by fellow Scot Dott, who won their first-round contest at Wembley Arena 6-4. Dott, who had won only once in eight years of entering this competition prior to last night, gave an early statement of intent with breaks of 115 and 65 handing him a two-frame lead. Higgins potted his first ball in the third frame and went on to win it with a break of 68 but 2006 world champion Dott restored his two-frame lead for the mid-session interval.

Higgins produced a 55 to make it 3-2 and levelled the match in the next frame with a 73, only for Dott to edge a cagey seventh after an early knock of 46. Back came Higgins with a 70-28 success in frame eight squaring the match again.

Dott dug deep to win a scrappy ninth frame to move 5-4 ahead, and a break of 62 in the next was the cornerstone of a match-clinching 10th frame as the 33-year-old progressed.

Next up for Dott in round two is Ding Junhui, after the world number four wrapped up a 6-4 win over Mark Williams earlier yesterday.

Both players struggled to find form in a low quality game, although Ding's stronger start ultimately carried him home.

Ding established a 5-2 advantage and although Williams threatened to make a game of it when he won the next two frames, the left-hander from Cwm was made to pay for missing a chance to square the contest in the 10th frame as Ding cleared up to progress.

Ding said: "Mark played well to come back to 5-4 so I had to stay strong.

"I've played him a few times this season and he has beaten me, so it's good for my confidence to beat him.

"I don't want to think about winning the tournament, I just want to relax and think about the next round."

Williams said: "It was a good match. There were a couple of frames that could have gone either way, and if I'd won them it could have been different.

"I thought I had him when I got to 5-4, but he made a good break in the end."

Defending champion Mark Selby crashed out of the competition on Sunday. Selby raced into a 2-0 lead against Mark King before the left-hander hit back with a break of 139 on his way to a shock 6-4 victory.