In heldover matches Ronnie & Mark Selby cruised through their opponent by 4-0 to enter the main event of European Masters 2016 in Romania.
Snooker’s first ever pro tournament in Romania got underway today in Bucharest and four-time World Champion Higgins was among the early winners as he took just 68 minutes to beat Holt, making top breaks of 118 and 104, and set up a last 16 clash with Tom Ford.
Tom Ford beat Robin Hull 4-1 with a top break of 55 while Barry Hawkins narrowly avoided a surprise defeat against Michael Wild. Hawkins trailed 3-2 but won frame six with a break of 93 then took a tense decider by clearing from green to black.
Neil Robertson also impressed in a high quality contest against Graeme Dott, winning 4-2. World number seven Robertson cleared with 71 to win the opening frame before Dott responded with a 73 clearance to take the second. A 29 clearance gave Australia’s Robertson the third and a run of 70 helped him go 3-1 ahead. Dott pulled one back with an 87 before Robertson sealed victory in the sixth with a 112.
Scotland’s 22-year-old Rhys Clark reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time with a 4-1 defeat of David Grace. Breaks of 101, 61, 50 and 52 helped Clark set up a match with Neil Robertson.
Indian Open champion Anthony McGill edged out Ali Carter 4-3. From 3-2 down, McGill made a 107 to square the match, and then he got the better of the decider after Carter made a safety error on the last red, leaving it over a top corner pocket.
Andrew Higginson saw off Marco Fu 4-0 with top breaks of 70 and 61.
In another match of the day World number nine Ricky Walden of England beat Yan Bingto by 4-2 to enter in the round of 16.