Former world champions John Higgins and Shaun Murphy were among the big names to make it through to the third round of the China Championship on Wednesday.

World number four Higgins is a previous winner of the tournament, albeit when it was still a non-ranking event, but he was made to work hard for his place in the third round, coming from 4-2 down to edge out his Chinese opponent Mei Xiwen 5-4.

The 43-year-old’s reward for reaching the last 16 is a clash with fellow Scotsman Scott Donaldson, who also came from behind to beat England’s Jack Lisowski 5-3.

There was also a victory for 2005 world champion Murphy, who was a beaten finalist in Guangzhou last year, as he overcame Xiao Guodong 5-2, wrapping up the victory with an impressive break of 108.

Murphy, who will now face Lu Haotian in the third round following his victory over Joe Perry, was not the only Englishman to record a win on Wednesday, as Judd Trump booked his place in the last 16 with a 5-2 victory over Jamie Jones.

Yan Bingtao will be Trump’s opponent in the next round, as he upset world number 13 Stuart Bingham 5-2, while Liang Wenbo won the all-Chinese clash with Zhang Anda 5-2 and he was another one to wrap up his victory with a century break.

Liang will now take on Martin O’Donnell in round three after the world number 67 ran in four half-century breaks on his way to an impressive victory over Tom Ford.