Higgins & Selby safely through

World and Masters champions John Higgins and Mark Selby safely advanced to round two of the totesport.com Welsh Open today.

UK Championship counterpart Ding Junhui will not be joining the duo in the next stage, though, after being eliminated by Jamie Cope.

The second round also got under way, with Ryan Day providing some cheer for the home crowd with a first career win over seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry.

Higgins produced a masterclass of break-building to hammer Michael Judge, taking the first two frames with 87 and 105 en route to a 4-0 mid-session lead.

Judge returned with breaks of 68 and 73 to halve the deficit, but the Scot fittingly rounded the match off with a 109 to claim a 5-2 win.

Wembley winner Selby sank rising star Judd Trump by the same scoreline in a good start to his bid for back-to-back titles - a feat he achieved here after his last Masters win in 2008. The highlight was a 115 break to win frame six.

Chinese star Ding sank to a 5-3 defeat despite a sparkling 127 to level the match at 3-3.

Breaks of 38 and 73 gave Cope frame seven and the 'Shotgun' also won the eighth in two visits - 45 and 71 - to advance.

Mark Williams enthused the locals as he beat Fergal O'Brien in a high-quality first-round encounter.

The first four frames were shared after O'Brien knocked in a fine century to level at 2-2 but breaks of 102 and 112 gave Williams a two-frame lead.

A fourth successive century looked on the cards as O'Brien motored to 49 in the next before unluckily going in off via the pink when potting a blue.

A break of 36 took Williams one point ahead and, when the Dubliner went in off again attempting a long pink, he immediately conceded.

Glaswegian Graeme Dott saw off Joe Perry 5-3 in the day's other first-round tie. The players were level after the first six frames, but Dott went 4-3 up with a break of 73 and a run of 40 helped him prevail in the next.

In the evening's second-round action, Day won a superb match against Hendry 5-3.

After Day won the opener, Hendry levelled with breaks of 46 and 63 and an aggressive safety early in the third, smashing the green off its spot into the pack, forced Day into a near-impossible safety and allowed the Scot to make a frame-winning 71.

A 42 helped Day deservedly go into the interval level and he took the fifth frame after Hendry missed a simple green off its spot, but wasted a break of 41 in the sixth as Hendry came back with a 75 to level.

But Day knocked in a 52 as he came from behind to take frame seven and then claimed two snookers and held his nerve for a clearance of 35 to steal the eighth on the black and progress.

Defending champion Ali Carter won a low-quality clash with Australian Neil Robertson 5-2.

Carter made a 115, the only real highlight before the mid-session interval, to seal a 3-1 lead and returned to claim a tortuous fifth frame.

Robertson ground his way back to 4-2 but Carter wrapped up victory in the next.