World Snooker Tour Classic: Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and John Higgins safely through in Leicester
Mark Selby during day eight of the Betfred World Snooker Championships at The Crucible, Sheffield
Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and John Higgins were among the first-round winners on day three of the inaugural World Snooker Tour Classic in Leicester.
World number two Selby beat Robbie McGuigan 4-1 and will play Zhang Anda or Peter Devlin in the last 64, while Murphy now faces James Cahill after white-washing Oliver Brown 4-0.
Higgins, currently world number 11, beat Michael White 4-3 to set up a second-round clash with Mark Joyce. Cahill defeated Andy Hicks 4-1.
Ali Carter progressed after knocking out Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-1 and will play Pakistan's Muhammad Asif, who had a first-round walkover after Mark King's Tour suspension over irregular betting patterns.
Former world number one Ding Junhui is out, losing 4-3 to fellow Chinese Xu Si, who sealed victory with a 138-clearance in a final-frame decider.
Matthew Selt came through a four-hour match, beating Michael Holt 4-3, and Andrew Pagett produced a career-best break of 131 in his defeat of German Masters finalist Tom Ford by the same score.
Other winners on Saturday included David Gilbert, Chris Wakelin, Anthony Hamilton, Tian Pengfei, Stephen Maguire and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
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