Mark Selby sails into Scottish Open last 16 but John Higgins heads home

Mark Selby maintained his fine form to cruise into the last 16 of the Scottish Open by beating Iran’s Hossein Vafaei 4-0 in Edinburgh.

World number six Selby, who announced his return to the top of the sport after a long spell in the doldrums by winning the UK Championship earlier this month, made breaks of 70 and 75 before sealing victory with a score of 131.

John Higgins, one place above Selby in the rankings, made a surprise exit at the Meadowbank Sports Centre, crashing out 4-0 to Thailand’s world number 35 Noppon Saengkham.

Zhao Xintong opened with a 146-clearance against Joe O’Connor, but the reigning world champion won just one more frame in a 4-2 defeat as the Englishman hit back with the help of scores of 97 and 51.

Kyren Wilson, world champion in 2024, made light work of China’s Pang Junxu and Stuart Bingham was also a 4-1 winner, beating 2018 runner-up Shaun Murphy.

Former Scottish Open winner Mark Allen, Matthew Selt, Chris Wakelin and Zhang Anda all had comfortable second-round wins against Wang Yuchen, He Guoqiang, Anthony McGill and Matthew Stevens respectively.