Higgins has been crowned world champion on three occasions

World champion John Higgins said he must cut out the errors after a scrappy victory against Fergal O'Brien in the first round of the China Open.

Higgins beat the Irishman 5-3 to set up a second-round tie with Mark Williams but was not happy with his performance.

"There were lots of mistakes from the two of us. If I play like that against Mark, I'll lose," said the Scot.

"There's always pressure on your first-round game, so hopefully I'll have more confidence in my next match."

He added: "The last time I played [Williams] here was in the final four years ago and I lost, so I owe him revenge."

Higgins produced breaks of 74 and 50 to go 3-1 up but O'Brien clawed back a frame. However, the Scotsman triumphed with another 74 break in the eighth.

Williams reached the second round with a 5-3 victory against Jamie Cope of England.

The Welshman trailed 1-0 and 3-2, but breaks of 68 and 67 in frames six and seven gave the advantage back to the two-time former world champion and he stayed clear.

Australian Neil Robertson is also through to the next round after a 5-2 victory in his tie with England's Mike Dunn.

Last year's World Championship semi-finalist racked up two century breaks to book a meeting with defending champion Peter Ebdon or Judd Trump.

606: DEBATE Discuss the China Open

Robertson made 112, 88 and 102 in consecutive frames to go from 1-1 to 4-1 before closing out the match.

Stephen Maguire and Marco Fu also progressed, beating Barry Hawkins 5-3 and little-known Belgian Bjorn Haneveer 5-2 respectively.

Maguire made breaks of 88 and 73 to take a 4-1 lead against Hawkins, who clawed his way back to 4-3 before falling short.

Fu raced to a 3-0 lead against Haneveer after a break of 110, before a run of 95 put him 4-1 up.

Maguire will play Mark Allen in the last 16 after the Northern Irishman defeated Scot Graeme Dott 5-1, while Fu will face Shaun Murphy or Nigel Bond.

Welshman Ryan Day also booked his place in the next round after strolling past England's Robert Milkins 5-1, while China's Ding Junhui edged Ireland's Gerard Greene 5-3.

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