MARCUS CAMPBELL hailed 15-year-old opponent Lyu Haotian after scraping through to the last 64 of the williamhill.com UK Championship in a deciding frame.

The world number 31 trailed 3-1 at the interval against the Chinese prodigy but gathered himself and eked out a 6-5 victory following a tense finale.

“Lyu is something else – what a player,” said Campbell.

“The young Chinese lads have got bags of attitude and ability. I’m delighted and all I’ve done is beaten a 15-year-old – that’s how good the standard is these days.”

Haotian was fearless and impressed with breaks of 92 and 72, as Campbell had to call on deep reserves to advance.

“I’m just delighted to have got over the line and won a match,” he added. “There’s a lot of pressure when you’re out there competing.”

Michael White put down a strong marker for his tournament ambitions after whitewashing Joe Swail 6-0.

The Welshman, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships in May, said of his display: “6-0 – I can’t ask for much more than that in my first match. I started the match well with a 50-odd break and an 80-odd break and I was hitting the ball really nicely.

“I have been practising hard and playing well and luckily for me it came out on the match table.

“On paper, potentially it could have been very tough for me but I kept him under pressure and I am pleased with the win.”

Andrew Higginson joined White in the last 64 with a 6-2 victory over Hammad Miah.

The Cheshire player struggled early on against the first-year pro but still led 3-1 at the interval and then got over the finish line thanks to breaks of 74, 64 and 42.

Higginson said: “I took the chances when it mattered but I have been playing so well in practice and, at the start of that game, it felt like I hadn’t played the game before.”

David Gilbert lost 6-4 to Li Hang, while Jamie Burnett defeated Simon Bedford by the same margin.

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