Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronnie O'Sullivan

China Open: Ronnie O'Sullivan cruises into main draw


Ronnie O'Sullivan started with a century as he cruised into the Fuhua Group China Open main draw - but Mark Selby had to dig deep.

The 'Rocket' added breaks of 67, 64 and 84 to his opening 110 in a 6-2 win over Ross Muir in his heldover qualifier in Beijing.

Selby trailed 2-0 to Chinese player Wang Yuchen but hit back with successive breaks in the 80s before eventually grinding his way to a 6-4 win.

Home favourites Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo also made it into the tournament proper, respectively beating Michael Georgiou 6-2 and Rhys Clark 6-1, while Peter Ebdon dismissed Chang Bingyu 6-2.

In first-round action, Mark Williams continued his impressive form this season by beating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-1 with two centuries and Mark Allen made three as he beat Noppon Saengkham by the same scoreline.

Former world champion Stuart Bingham beat Matthew Stevens, twice a Crucible finalist but now down to number 53 in the world rankings, 6-5 with breaks of 92 and 55 to come from 5-4 down.

Martin Gould, Luca Brecel and Ali Carter crashed out, all beaten 6-4 by Sam Craigie, Cao Yupeng and Gary Wilson respectively, but there were wins for Ricky Walden, Joe Perry, Ben Woollaston and Jack Lisowski.

Related snooker links

Like what you've read?

MOST READ

Sporting Life
Join for free!
Access to exclusive features all for FREE - No monthly subscription fee
Race Replays
My stable horse tracker
giftOffers and prize draws
newsExclusive content

Next Off

Fixtures & Results

Fetching latest games....