Snooker news - Defending champion Neil Robertson eases through to round two

ByEurosport

Updated 10/12/2018 at 23:19 GMT

Defending champion Neil Robertson eased past Peter Lines 4-1 to progress to round two of the Scottish Open at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.

Defending champion Neil Robertson previews the Scottish Open

Image credit: Eurosport

Robertson, 36, produced runs of 88 and 63 to open up a two-frame advantage, but Lines, who beat Robertson in the first round of the 2016 UK Championship, cut the arrears with a 72 in the third.

However, the world number 74 Lines passed up the opportunity to level the first-round tie when he missed a presentable blue to the middle pocket in frame four, allowing Robertson to clear to put himself within one frame of the next round.

And the Thunder from Down Under made a run of 67 to seal a second-round showdown with Ross Muir.

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Defending champion Neil Robertson into Scottish Open second round

Elsewhere, Stephen Maguire suffered a shock defeat to world number 98 Billy Castle, who secured victory with a flourish, putting in breaks of 94 and 64 in the last two frames to complete a 4-1 win, while former world number one John Higgins squeezed through 4-3 against Adam Duffy.

And Ding Junhui enjoyed a spectacularly rapid win over Niu Zhuang, winning 4-0 in just 48 minutes.