Wins for Higgins, Trump

Higgins: saw off Murphy 4-2

In this competition when you're playing catch up it's harder so it's good to get off to a win and hopefully I can keep it going.

John Higgins
Quotes of the week

Week Two results
J Higgins (Sco) bt S Murphy (Eng) 4-2
J Trump (Eng) bt S Hendry (Sco) 4-2

Also see

• Snooker Schedule
• World Rankings
• Snooker DVDs

World champion John Higgins got his PartyCasino.com Premier League Snooker campaign off to a winning start with a 4-2 success over Shaun Murphy.

Higgins, who failed to win a match in last year's competition, made three half-century breaks to quell the challenge of UK champion Murphy at the Malvern Theatre.

The opening frame went the way of Higgins on the blue but Murphy hit back with a run of 52 in the second to level.

Higgins, however, bagged the next two with breaks of 53 and 58 to open a 3-1 lead and guarantee himself at least a draw.

Murphy rallied with 72 - the highest break of the match - to reduce his deficit to one frame but his hopes were dashed as Higgins closed out the result with a 61 in the final frame.

"I'm delighted to get a win on the board so early on. Any win against Shaun is a good win," Higgins told Sky Sports.

"In this competition when you're playing catch up it's harder so it's good to get off to a win and hopefully I can keep it going."

Generation game

In the second game of the evening, Judd Trump recovered from 2-0 down to claim a 4-2 triumph over Stephen Hendry.

Hendry started with a 104 break and quickly doubled his lead courtesy of two half-centuries - 57 and 67 - in the second frame.

The seven-time world champion opened the third frame with a run of 51, but Trump - at 20 the youngest player in the competition - stormed back into the contest with some sublime potting.

The Bristol cueman stole the third frame with a 38 break and levelled at 2-2 in the next, helped by a run of 36.

Trump then rolled in a 103 to go ahead for the first time at 3-2 and sealed the comeback with an 88 in the last.