Higgins through to last 16

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World number four Higgins, from Wishaw in Lanarkshire, underlined his status as reigning world champion by storming to a 5-1 victory against world number 57 Joyce in one hour and 54 minutes.

The three-time Crucible winner raced into a 3-0 lead, with a 98 break securing the third of those frames. Walsall-based Joyce reduced the deficit to two but Higgins produced breaks of 135 and 99 to clinch the match.

Marco Fu, meanwhile, was on the wrong end of a shock result against Mark Davis, the world number 47.

Fu, ranked eighth in the world, quickly fell 2-0 behind to his 37-year-old opponent.

He stormed back to lead 3-2 but Davis won the next two. Fu forced a decider but Davis edged it in a frame lasting 31 minutes.