Aaron Hill and Jordan Brown eliminated at Wuhan Open

Aaron Hill and Jordan Brown have both been eliminated in the last 64 stage of the Wuhan Open in China.

Corkman Hill was at the wrong end of a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of Kyren Wilson, but Antrim's Brown fared a little better, going 2-1 up against Hossein Vafaei before eventually losing 5-3.

Mark Allen pulled out the event last week, citing a family illness.

Allen wrote on X: "I'd like to pass on my apologies to world snooker, the Chinese promoter, my sponsors and the Chinese fans but I have had to withdraw from the upcoming Wuhan Open due to a family illness."

As a result, Jamie Clarke was given a walkover into the last 32. Ronnie O'Sullivan also pulled out for medical reasons, and was replaced by Mark Joyce.

Meanwhile, John Higgins credited "divine intervention" after his 5-4 victory over Fan Zhengyi.

Higgins trailed 3-0 and 4-2 to China's Fan before he managed a break of 61 to grab one back and went on to complete the turnaround.

The Scottish player, who has been forced to change his cue after his previous one was damaged, said: "I was going nowhere after Saudi Arabia with my old cue.

"My game was in bad shape. It maybe took some divine intervention, I don’t know what it was.

"It made me swap equipment and it seems to have given me a lease of life. Who knows how long it will last but today it seems good."

Higgins will now meet Zak Surety in the next round after he beat Robert Milkins 5-4 to advance.

Defending champion Judd Trump eased past He Guoqiang 5-2 with the Englishman making two centuries.

Shaun Murphy held his nerve in a 5-3 win over former German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton.