Yorkshireman Peter Lines caused a shock by knocking out four-time world champion John Higgins on day one of the German Masters. Lines, from Leeds, is ranked 58th in the world but more than had the measure of out-of-sorts Scot Higgins at the Tempodrom venue in Berlin. In their opening-day match Lines gained a 2-0 lead but was briefly reeled in as Higgins levelled up. However the 43-year-old, who had a best break of 96, took three of the next four frames to clinch a 5-3 victory. Lines said on worldsnooker.com: “To beat a player of John’s class is a great achievement. I have beaten him a few times – everyone has a bogey player and hopefully I’m his. “I’m pleased I held myself together, I missed a chance to win 5-2 so I was delighted to win in the next frame because matches like that can get away from you.” Judd Trump had an opening break of 141 as he beat James Wattana, but the world number two had to do it the hard way against Thailand’s most celebrated player, winning 5-4 from 4-3 behind. In-form Mark Selby maintained his fine recent run by firing two centuries in a 5-2 win against Thai player Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Selby is chasing a third successive major title, having triumphed at the UK Championship in December and this month’s Masters. Masters runner-up Neil Robertson toppled Daniel Wells 5-0, Stephen Maguire won his all-Scottish tussle with Alan McManus by a 5-3 margin, and Widnes potter Andrew Higginson had a fine 5-1 victory against 10th-ranked Stuart Bingham. Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan remains on the sidelines, taking a break from the sport that could mean he does not defend his world title. Other winners on Wednesday included Mark Williams, who toppled Martin O’Donnell 5-1; Shaun Murphy, by the same margin against Ben Woollaston; Mark Allen, a routine 5-2 victor against veteran Nigel Bond; Ding Junhui, who beat fellow Chinese player Liu Chuang 5-4; and Dominic Dale, with the Welshman putting out perennial crowd favourite Jimmy White 5-3. The final session of the day saw victories for Trump, Ali Carter, Matthew Stevens, Kurt Maflin and Barry Hawkins.
