SNOOKER: South Essex’s leading snooker players were all beaten by Scotsman at the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany.

Basildon’s Stuart Bingham was well beaten by world number 83 Fraser Patrick in the first round, going down 4-0.

Patrick went on claim other notable scalps, including Matt Stevens, on his way to the fourth round.

Langdon Hills’ Zak Surety also couldn’t make it past the first round but he gave four-time world champion John Higgins a real fight before eventually losing 4-2.

Southend’s Ryan Causton came through two rounds of qualifying, beating the Germans Norbert Hofheinz (4-0) and Lukas Kleckers (4-2) before losing in the third qualifying round to Eden Sharav (4-2).