Defending champion Kyren Wilson got his 2019 SangSom Six Red World Championship campaign underway with a 5-2 defeat of Anthony McGill in Bangkok.

The event kicks off with a round-robin group stage. Each group consists of four players, who will play each other once, with the top two progressing to the last 16.

Wilson took home the title last year after an 8-4 win over Asian number one Ding Junhui in the final. The Warrior secured today’s win with a three-frame burst from 2-2 to emerge the 5-2 victor. That moves him top of group A, ahead of Thailand’s Passakorn Suwannawat who edged out Mohamed Shehab 5-4.

Ding held off a Joe Perry fightback to win 5-3 in their Group C clash. The Chinese star had led 3-0, before being pegged back to 3-3. However, he claimed two on the bounce to secure victory.

The other match in that group saw Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham defeat 12-time women's World Champion Reanne Evans 5-1.

2004 UK Champion Stephen Maguire thrashed Belgium’s Luca Brecel 5-0. While four-time Crucible king John Higgins battled past Thai legend James Wattana in a 5-3 win.

Source: World Snooker