Snooker: Scots all safely through in China

IT was a good day for the Scottish contingent at the China Open yesterday as Graeme Dott, Stephen Hendry, Stephen Maguire all won.

Dott beat Mark King 5-2 in his first-round tie, while former champion Stephen Maguire cast aside Barry Hawkins 5-1.

Stephen Hendry joined them in the second round as he held his nerve to beat England’s Martin Gould 5-4

Meanwhile, Rory McLeod set up a first-round meeting with compatriot John Higgins after he breezed to a 5-0 win over Zhou Yuelong as the final two qualifiers were played. Later in the day, defending champion Judd Trump held off a spirited fightback from veteran Jimmy White to book his place in the second round. Trump looked on course for an easy win when he stormed into a 4-1 lead with the help of a total clearance of 122 in the second frame.

But White hit back with a century of his own in the sixth frame and took the next as well after an initial break of 62 which Trump looked set to wipe out until crucially missing the final blue. White kept the match alive but Trump had the final word with a break of 73 in the eighth frame to seal a 5-3 success.

Elsewhere, local favourite Ding Junhui recovered from 4-0 down to scrape past England’s Ben Woollaston 5-4, while Mark Selby eased into the last 16 with a 5-0 whitewash of local hopeful Li Hang and the in-form Stephen Lee beat Tom Ford 5-1.