SHEFFIELD: Hong Kong ace cuesman Marco Fu set up a second round clash with former world champion Shaun Murphy at this year’s snooker world championships with a fine 10-7 win over Englishman Martin Gould on Wednesday.

Fu, seeded seven, had lost to Gould on the previous two occasions they had met at the championships, bowing out in the first round in 2010 and 2011.

However, the 36-year-old -- whose best performance at the championships was reaching the semi-finals in 2006 -- kept his nerve to repel a late challenge by Gould to seal his place in the last 16 against 2005 world champion Murphy.

Two former beaten finalists also went through, E nglish duo Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins.

Trump, losing finalist in 2011, eked out an unimpressive 10-8 win over Tom Ford while Hawkins, who lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan in last year’s final, cruised through 10-4 against compatriot David Gilbert.

Australian world number one and 2010 world champion Neil Robertson looks confortably set for the second round as he holds a 7-2 overnight lead on Englishman Robbie Williams which also included two century breaks, taking his total for the season to an astonishing 95.

Results:

First round (best of 19 frames): Marco Fu (HKG) bt Martin Gould (ENG) 10-7; Barry Hawkins (ENG) bt David Gilbert (ENG) 10-4; Mark Allen (NIR) bt Michael Holt (ENG) 10-4; Judd Trump (ENG) bt Tom Ford (ENG) 10-8.—AFP