Neil Robertson holds off Luke Simmonds to reach second round of WST Classic
Former world champions Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham advanced to round two of the inaugural World Snooker Tour Classic in Leicester.
Robertson held off Luke Simmonds to win 4-2 in a victory which included two century breaks of 100 and 103 and a break of 99, and he will next face Oliver Lines, who eased to a 4-0 win over Mitchell Mann.
Bingham, meanwhile, convincingly whitewashed Ng On-yee with a 4-0 success which included a 109 break and he will next meet Matthew Stevens who cruised to a 4-1 triumph over Victor Sarkis.
Two former World Champions advance to round two here in Leicester!
Neil Robertson beats Luke Simmonds 4-2, following Stuart Bingham's 4-0 victory over Ng On Yee earlier today.#WSTClassic
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) March 16, 2023
World number three Mark Allen completed a 4-0 success over Peter Lines despite not compiling a break above 50.
Allen went 2-0 up despite Lines compiling a 51 break in the second frame, and the Northern Irishman comfortably saw out the next two frames to complete the whitewash.
Jack Lisowski edged past Louis Heathcote in the first match of the day with a thrilling 4-3 victory.
Mark Allen reflects on a lucrative season but insists money is not on the mind.
He beat Peter Lines 4-0 tonight to advance to round two of the #WSTClassic.@Pistol147 pic.twitter.com/BPEJDmJ4dZ
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) March 16, 2023
Lisowski took the first frame and went 3-1 up in the contest before a resilient Heathcote fought back to level at 3-3 before Lisowski finished things off in the deciding frame to advance to the next round.
Barry Hawkins demolished Barry Pinches 4-0, racking up breaks of 129 and 112, as well as breaks of 55 and 81, as his opponent never really got going as he notched just 18 points in the match.
Fan Zhengyi ran out a 4-0 winner over Andres Petrov while Mark Davis and Martin Gould won 4-2 against Fergal O’Brien and Andrew Higginson, respectively.