Chinese snooker star Liang Wenbo fell to former world no. 1 John Higgins of Scotland, 4-6, on Wednesday in the first round of the 2016 Dafabet Snooker Masters held at the Alexandra Palace in London.
The 28-year-old Heilongjiang, China native, who finished runner-up to Australian Neil Robertson in the 2015 Betway UK Championship last month to enter the Masters for the first time in his career, admitted that the 40-year-old Wizard of Wishaw was the better player during the match as he also lacked focus, especially in the crucial stretches.
"I enjoyed the match very much. John played very well today," said Liang after the match, via Xinhuanet.
"If I gave him the first chance, I always thought he would take it. He scored very heavily. I didn't play badly but I just lost concentration a little bit. I should have won the last frame but the table is terrible," he added.
Higgins, a two-time Masters champion, four-time World champion, and three-time UK Championships winner, said that he was "delighted" by his performance against the gritty Liang and was all praises for the young Chinese player afterward.
"Liang played well. He can look back on the game and say he's only missed a couple of balls and lost 6-4. It was a good, high quality game," Higgins said, as per the Daily Record.
The match was close from the beginning as both players went into a 2-2 draw and then shared the next four frames again to make it 4-4 after eight.
Higgins got an 85 break in the ninth frame to move within one game of advancing in the quarterfinals. Liang had a chance to tie it all over again, but he missed a shot, leaving the green over the pocket for his veteran opponent to take.
Higgins then cleared the table to turn back Liang and set up a meeting with reigning world champion Stuart Bingham in the quarters. Bingham defeated Liang's compatriot Ding Junhui, 6-4, in their own first round matchup.