John Higgins advances to the main rounds of the 2024 Xi'an Grand Prix
John Higgins defeated Alexander Ursenbacher 5-2 in round one to qualify for next month’s main venue stages of the inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix professional snooker ranking event.
Higgins - who was in China earlier this week for an exhibition event following his Shanghai Masters appearance - booked a trip back to the Far East as he made breaks of 82 and 63 before securing victory with a counter-attacking clearance to pink of 67 in frame seven.
Four-time world champion Higgins remains on 998 professional career centuries.
Elsewhere at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Thursday afternoon, 17-year-old rookie Bulcsu Revesz whitewashed David Grace 5-0 to record his maiden win on the professional circuit.
The Hungarian - who qualified for snooker’s top tier after winning the World Snooker Federation Junior Championship in Albania in February - could face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 64.
Another young newcomer from continental Europe who will make travel plans for next month is Latvia’s Artemijs Zizins; the 18-year-old Q School graduate defeated Robbie Williams, 5-3.
Ka Wai Cheung made three century breaks in four frames as he established a 4-2 lead over Ryan Day, however, four-time ranking event champion Day won the final three frames as he advanced through via a deciding frame.
Former Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown denied Liam Pullen 5-2 and Iran's Amir Sarkhosh - playing his first match as a professional - twice came from behind and registered a 111 as he defeated amateur top-up Josh Thomond, 5-3.
For the full 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix draw and the results so far, visit here.