Surprise Defeats For Higgins And Murphy
John Higgins suffered a 6-3 reverse against Peter Lines and Shaun Murphy was whitewashed 6-0 by Sam Baird in the qualifying round of the International Championship in Barnsley.
Lines, age 48, reached the semi-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic in August
World number four Higgins misses out on a trip to Daqing in China later this month having lost to a player ranked 70 places lower. Scotland’s Higgins, runner-up at the China Championship last month, managed a top break of just 30 in the nine frames.
Leeds cueman Lines compiled runs of 55, 54, 63, 71 and 71 as he booked his place in the last 64.
World number eight Murphy has now lost in the first round of four ranking events this season having previously fallen at the first hurdle of the Yushan World Open, Paul Hunter Classic and European Masters.
Baird, ranked 120th, knocked in breaks of 89, 61 and 116 as he booked his trip to China.
Mark Allen took just 77 minutes to beat Paul Davison 6-0 with a top run of 69. Yushan World Open finalist David Gilbert came from 5-3 down to beat Sam Craigie 6-5, making breaks of 88 and 85 in the last three frames.