ROBERTSON, TRUMP AND HIGGINS BOOK BEIJING SPOTS

April’s £1 million China Open looks set to have a strong field with top stars coming through the qualifying rounds in Cannock this week.

Beijing will host the final stages of the world ranking tournament from April 1 to 7, with a top prize of £225,000 up for grabs.

Welsh Open champion Neil Robertson kept his run of form going as he swept past Hamza Akbar with a 6-0 scoreline. Breaks of 70, 118, 142 and 71 helped put the Australian into the last 64.

John Higgins beat Chris Totten, who comes from the same town of Wishaw, 6-1 with top runs of 64, 88, 69 and 66.

Masters champion Judd Trump also enjoyed a comfortable victory, beating Jak Jones 6-2 with high scores of 64, 82, 75 and 68.

Tour rookie Joe O’Connor, a semi-finalist at the Welsh Open, continued to show promise as he beat Liam Highfield 6-3 with a top run of 129.

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, the other losing semi-finalist in Cardiff, produced a tremendous display to beat Hammad Miah 6-4. Vafaei made a rare 146, his highest career break, and further runs of 70, 86, 98, 108 and 73.

Jack Lisowski top scored with 73 in a 6-2 win over Alfie Burden while Barry Hawkins made a 135 in a 6-3 defeat of Robin Hull.

The qualifiers finish on Wednesday.

source - worldsnooker