World number 33 Tom Ford has booked his place in the main draw for the Evergrande China Championship courtesy of an emphatic victory over Paul Davison. The Englishman was one of the first to take to the tables for the qualifiers in Preston and he put on a dominant display.

Ford, who lost 4-2 in the European Masters qualifiers to Tian Pengfei on Friday, bounced back to confirm his spot for the ranking event in Guangzhou. He had never beaten Davison in two previous attempts but a comprehensive 5-0 victory means he will make up part of the main draw next month.

Joining Ford in China will be Marco Fu after he survived a minor scare to see off England’s Sam Baird 5-2. Fu lost the opening frame as Baird achieved a break of 54 but he responded in fine fashion with breaks of 90 and 101 to take a 2-1 lead.

Baird, who had won his last two meetings with Fu at the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship, went on to claim the fourth frame before Fu powered on through to win the remaining three.

Australia’s Neil Robertson – 17.00 to win the UK Championship 2018 – will have the opportunity to atone for his first-round exit at the China Championship last term after edging past Ross Muir. The world number 10 made difficult work of his clash with the Muir, who is 82 places lower down the rankings, but eventually came through 5-3.