Higgins and Lisowski Out as Northern Ireland Open Second Round Ends

Two of snooker's best-known names left the Northern Ireland Open on the same day. Jack Lisowski, the reigning champion, lost 4-1 to Anthony McGill in the second round at Belfast's Waterfront Hall on Wednesday 21 October. John Higgins went down 4-2 to Wales' Jak Jones in his own second-round match.

Matches are best of seven frames, where a frame is one game and the first player to win four takes the tie. A 4-1 scoreline therefore means one player won four frames while the other managed only one. World Snooker Tour reported earlier this month that Lisowski had called his win in Belfast a big thing in his life, and that he was ready for an emotional return to the event.

Stuart Bingham had a harder day still. He lost 4-0 to Ka Wai Cheung, failing to win a single frame.

Jordan Brown had a more encouraging day. The Antrim player beat Michael Holt 4-3, winning the final two frames to close out the match. He now meets Scott Donaldson in the third round. Brown had already made headlines on Tuesday, when he beat his friend Mark Allen in an emotional first-round match. Allen was returning to competition for the first time in almost six months.

Donaldson did his part too. He beat Noppon Saengkham 4-1 on Wednesday, setting up the match with Brown.

Elsewhere on the day, Mark Williams beat Zhang Anda 4-2. Daniel Wells beat Ryan Day 4-3, and Sam Craigie beat Xu Si by the same margin. David Gilbert beat Gao Yang 4-3, and Pang Junxu beat Liam Davies 4-3 to round off the session.

Close finishes were common in the second round. Four of the matches reported on Wednesday were decided 4-3, and each one could have gone either way over the final frames. For the players who went through, the reward is another match in Belfast and a place in the next round. For those who lost, it is a long trip home, with the chance of a title in Belfast now gone for another year.