Donaldson heads for home after defeat

Perth’s Scott Donaldson bowed out of the world’s second-biggest snooker tournament following a second round defeat at the UK Championship in York.

The 25-year-old easily defeated China’s Chen Zifan last Wednesday, but Leicester’s Ben Woollaston proved a trickier opponent.

Donaldson took the opening frame and later made it 2-2 at the midsession interval thanks to a match-high 89 break.

Another half-century put him back in front at 4-3, but Woollaston then reeled off the next three frames to go through 6-4.

Donaldson aims to bounce back on home soil at next week’s Scottish Open in Glasgow, where he meets China’s Lei Peifan in round one next Monday.

Judd Trump eased into the third round in York with a 6-1 win over China’s Mei Xiwen.

The world number one stormed into a strong 4-0 lead as Mei struggled to get a foothold in the match.

Mei pulled back a frame before Trump won the next two to book a third-round meeting with veteran Nigel Bond, who edged past Louis Heathcote 6-5.

Top 20 players Ding Junhui and Ali Carter will meet in the next round following 6-2 wins over Michael Georgiou and Robert Milkins.

Scotland’s Graeme Dott cruised past Yuan Sijun in a 6-0 win, while world number 13 Jack Lisowski beat 2006 UK Championship winner Peter Ebdon 6-2.

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the third round on Saturday with a second successive 6-0 victory as he swept past Tian Pengfei.

Next up for O’Sullivan will be Noppon Saengkham after he beat Scotland’s Anthony McGill 6-3.