Williams up and running at China Championship

Williams got off to a serene start, winning the first frame comfortably, but the world No.89 struck back in the second.

Nonetheless, the more experienced Welshman held his nerve and eventually ran out a 5-1 victor.

Elsewhere, John Higgins won his opening round against Andrew Higginson by the same scoreline.

Higgins won the first two frames convincingly, and though he was pegged back in the third, he produced two breaks of 50+ to seal the victory.

The Scot's win sets up a meeting with Li Hang, who defeated Sam Craigie 5-2.

Jordan Brown, Mitchell Mann, Kurt Maflin and Ryan Day all won tight encounters 5-4 against Akani Songsermsawad, Lu Hoatian, Graeme Dott and Joe O'Conor respectively.

Matthew Selt and Matthew Stevens are also in the second round after recording 5-2 victories apiece over Ben Woollaston and Dominic Dale respectively. Finally, Barry Hawkins recorded the highest break of the first round, of 139, in his 5-2 win over Liam Highfield.

Earlier on Monday in the second round of qualifying, Judd Trump trounced James Wattana 5-1, courtesy of runs of 67, 109 and 57; while defending champion Mark Selby made runs of 53, 53, 108, 66 and 137 as he ousted Chen Feilong 5 - 3.

Jordan Brown 5 – 4 Akani Songsermsawad

Mitchell Mann 5 – 4 Lü Haotian

Kurt Maflin 5 – 4 Graeme Dott

Ryan Day 5 – 4 Joe O'Connor

Matthew Stevens 5 - 2 Dominic Dale

Matthew Selt 5 – 2 Ben Woollaston

John Higgins 5 - 1 Andrew Higginson

Li Hang 5 – 2 Sam Craigie

Martin Gould 5 – 3 Scott Donaldson

Chris Wakelin 5 – 1 Alexander Ursenbacher

Barry Hawkins 5 – 2 Liam Highfield

Mark J Williams 5 – 1 Kishan Hirani

Noppon Saengkham 5 – 2 Mark King

Mark Selby 5 - 3 Chen Feilong

Judd Trump 5 – 1 James Wattana

Yan Bingtao 5 – 4 Mei Xiwen

Tom Ford 5 – 2 Pang Junxu

Zhao Jianbo (a) w/o Ken Doherty

Ding Junhui 5 – 0 Brandon Sargeant