Selby, Higgins and Ding enjoy wins at China Championship, but Bingham and Robertson crash out

Updated 16/08/2017 at 21:28 GMT

World champion Mark Selby was not at his best but still got off to a winning start at the China Championship, beating Luo Honghao 5-1.

John Higgins

Image credit: Getty Images

Selby's match was a qualifier held over from the round of 128 in Preston that was played on the main table in Guangzhou.

It was similar story with defending champion John Higgins and Chinese stars Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo, who suffered a shock 5-3 qualifying defeat to a rejuvenated Ian Burns in his opening match at the event

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Ding rolled in a highest break of 91 in the second frame of his win over Niu Zhuang as he won five straight frames for a 5-1 success having lost the opening frame to a knock of 61.

Ding will face Alfie Burden in the first round.

Scotsman Higgins showed off the level of form that saw him lose 18-15 to Selby in the world final in May as immaculate breaks of 72, 129, 63, 63 and 62 helped the four-times world champion overwhelm 19-year-old Lu Haotian - who scored only nine points - to secure a meeting with Chris Wakelin in the first round of the tournament.

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Selby, 34, took the opening two frames, including a break of 53 in the second.

But Luo got on the board with some fine safety play, forcing Selby into mistakes.

Higgins produces an immaculate break of 129

Selby quickly responded by taking the following frames which included a match-high break of 76 in the final frame to set up a meeting with Noppon Saengkham, who reached the last 32 of the World Championship this year.

Luo's match can be summed up by how he lost the fifth frame by fouling as his waistcoat touched the red, a sign of his inexperience.

Earlier on, there were shocks as Stuart Bingham and Neil Robertson both crashed out early in the second ranking event of the season. Bingham was defeated 5-3 by the hugely talented Yan Bingtao, Robertson was beaten by Li Hang 5-4.

But it was not all good news for the home fans as Liang Wenbo was knocked out by Ian Burns.

Last season's German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton beat former world champion Peter Ebdon 5-3 while Barry Hawkins also made it through with Shaun Murphy overcoming the surprisingly resurgent Ken Doherty.

Ronnie O'Sullivan begins his campaign against Sam Baird on Thursday morning.