Snooker duo edged out

Bexhill potter Jimmy Robertson was edged out 4-3 in his second round clash against Andrew Higginson at the Newport Centre after St Leonards cueman Mark Davis lost by the same score to Joel Walker.

Higginson rattled through the first frame with breaks of 54 and 44, and came from 50 points behind to clinch the second thanks to a run of 66. Robertson pulled one back courtesy of a 72 only for 29th-ranked Higginson to restore his two-frame cushion by winning the next despite a top break of 19.

World number 51 Robertson stayed alive by claiming the fifth and a break of 52 in the sixth brought him level at 3-3. The 27-year-old then scored the first 10 points of the decider, but Higginson clinched it 57-19 to set up a third round meeting with Scott Donaldson.

A break of 50 gave world number 13 Davis the opening frame of his match only for 84th-ranked Walker to hit back with the next two. A 52 brought Davis level at 2-2 and although Walker went back in front, Davis didn’t concede a point in the sixth as he made it 3-3.

Davis hasn’t got a good record in matches that have gone to a deciding frame over the last few months, though, and that trend continued as he potted just one ball in frame nine, which went Walker’s way largely thanks to a 48.

Robertson saw off young Belgian talent Luca Brecel 4-2 in round one last Wednesday, while Davis edged out Swiss player Alexander Ursenbacher 4-3 on Friday after seeing a 3-0 lead wiped out.