By Anand Philar
Mumbai, March 11 (IANS): Four-time World champion John Higgins lit up the Indian Open World ranking snooker tournament here with a polished break of 136 defeating fellow-Scot Jamie Burnett 4-2 en route to the second round on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old Higgins, who won the last of his four World titles in 2011, rolled back the years with that brilliant 136 clearance in the sixth frame to seal the match. Incidentally, it is the highest break of the tournament so far.
Higgins, currently ranked 12, however, had to work hard for the win as 40-year-old Burnett often had him on the ropes with some superb safety play, especially in the fifth frame.
Seizing an opening early in the sixth frame, Higgins, who came into the tournament after winning the Welsh Open, went on to compile 136 to get into his groove while sending out a strong message to his future opponents.
"It was a scrappy match so I was happy to win. Winning the Welsh Open has given me a bit of extra confidence that when a match is close, I can get in and make a frame-winning break. Jamie (Burnett) shut me out for a couple of frames and these short matches can go either way.
"I was looking forward to coming here and having a run, whereas before I was coming to events without much confidence and checking out after a couple of days. It's enjoyable to be here because they are looking after us really well, the hotel is beautiful and the weather is great.
"The fact that a lot of top players have not come here doesn't make any difference to me because everyone is a good player and you can only concentrate on your own game," said Higgins.
Earlier, former top-10 player Alan McManus failed against the precocious talent of Kyren Wilson who took out the 44-year-old Scot 4-0 on way to the second round.
McManus, who enjoyed some salad days back in the 1990s when he achieved a ranking high at six and is currently at 25, had no answer to the consistency of 23-year-old Wilson from England.
Five 40-plus breaks, two of them in the second frame, proved sufficient for Wilson, currently ranked 60, to notch his second career win over McManus. The Scot's best effort was a 48 in the tight third frame that he eventually lost on the colours.
In another first round match, World No.8 Ricky Walden ground out a 4-1 win over fellow-Englishman Rory McLeod with breaks of 75, 85 and 52. England's Chris Wakelin scored a 4-2 win over Scot Rhys Clark, who had knocked out Indian hope Pankaj Advani on Tuesday.
The results (Main Draw):
Round 1: John Higgis (Scotland) bt Jamie Burnett (Scotland) 4-2: 68-15, 65 (52)-44, 54-06, 34-53, 00-72, 136 (136)-00; Mark Davis (England) bt Anthony Hamilton (England) 4-2: 67-29, 34-85 (53), 71-40, 71-26, 27-68 (64), 77-00; Tian Pengfei (China) bt Lyu Haotian (China) 4-1: 81-57, 91-31, 94 (57)-38, 00-83 (56), 75-12; Matthew Selt (England) bt Joel Walker (England) 4-0: 66-16, 53-20, 103 (103)-00, 60-19; Anthony McGill (Scotland) bt Tom Ford (England) 4-0: 65-54, 104 (67)-00, 83 (75)-29, 69-04; Kyren Wilson (England) bt Alan McManus (Scotland) 4-0: 97-34, 89-24, 67-48, 61-00; Ricky Walden (England) bt Rory McLeod (England) 4-1: 68-31, 75 (75)-02, 100 (85)-35, 59 (52)-79, 81-11; Michael White (England) bt Cao Yupeng (China) 4-3: 14-66, 106 (97)-00, 64-35, 96 (96)-00, 31-71, 61-69, 116 (77)-13; Joe Perry (England) bt Marcus Campbell (Scotland) 4-2: 125 (69)-00, 34-71 (51), 30-59, 94 (77)-00, 57-38, 78 (78)-18; Rod Lawler (England) bt Sam Baird (England) 4-0: 86 (86)-08, 63-11, 75-44, 92-00; Chris Wakelin (England) bt Rhys Clark (Scotland) 4-2: 26-71, 96 (70)-13, 65-47, 73 (57)-22, 29-79 (52), 84-51; Adam Duffy (England) bt Gary Wilson (England) 4-3: 66-84, 11-70 (68), 76-38, 68-09, 04-73, 85 (80)-01, 60-20.