Exciting matches mark the start of Indian Open snooker tournament

The Indian Open snooker tournament, which began on the 12th of September at Novotel Hotel in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, has garnered a lot of attention from the snooker and pool fraternity of India. Entry for spectators to watch the tournament is free, which has made it easy for people to watch the enthralling frames of snooker.

On the second day of the tournament, John Higgins, a former world champion and an all-time great, had a pretty tough match against the teenager from China Zhao Xintong. The match, which is the last one of yesterday, was a fight to the finish - running into the 7th frame.

The first two frames were won by Zhao with breaks of 73 and 78 respectively. That was followed by Higgins winning three frames on the trot. The fifth frame was a close affair, finishing 67-62 for Higgins.

Zhao won the next frame after a mistake by Higgins on the black ball. The last frame was won by Higgins comfortably with a break of 87.

Next for Higgins is Martin O'Donnell, who overcame Mike Dunn in a seven-frame battle.

Last year's champion Anthony McGill had a comfortable match against Ashley Hugill; he won it four frames to one. Up next for him is Rory McLeod, who is a veteran.

Shaun Murphy, also a former world champion, had a few good battles in the opening frames with Pandurangaiah of India in the qualifiers, and is now through to round three. He whitewashed Hammad Miah in the first round.

Shaun Murphy

The other notable names in the fray Ricky Walden, Stuart Bingham, Xu Si and Ken Doherty also had wins in their respective matches.

With many stars still in the tournament, it is turning out to be an exciting one. The quality of play may be some way behind what we see in the Masters and the world champiomnships, but the games are very exciting here in India.