Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan are through to round two of the China Championship. Here’s a full round-up of results and the latest betting.
Thursday's round-up & results
World number one and tournament favourite Mark Selby is safely through to the second round of the China Championship thanks to a fine 5-1 victory over Noppon Saengkham while Ronnie O'Sullivan also progressed.
The world champion, who won his qualifying match by the same scoreline on Wednesday, ran in breaks of 64, 57, 78 and 123 during this triumph and will now meet Zhou Yuelong for a place in the third round.
O'Sullivan managed two century breaks - 124 and 100 - and made other runs of 91, 66 and 56 as he brushed aside Sam Baird 5-2 so he certainly looks in good nick ahead of a clash with David Gilbert on Friday.
Marco Fu was the other high-profile name in action on Thursday morning but he had to come from 3-2 down before taking three frames in succession to beat Hossein Vafaei 5-3.
In the afternoon session, Judd Trump registered breaks of 105 and 97 to beat Daniel Wells 5-2, while Ding Junhui signed off with a brilliant 128 to beat Alfie Burden by the same scoreline.
John Higgins also advanced 5-2 against Chris Wakelin, and he too scored a century - this time a 119 in frame five.
Click here for the full tournament results and daily schedule
China Championship: Latest tournament betting
Mark Selby is Sky Bet's 5/2 favourite to win the China Championship and the firm are taking on Ronnie O'Sullivan, who is a 15/2 Price Boost, enhanced from 11/2.
Judd Trump is also 15/2 after he looked in top nick on Thursday, while home hope Ding Junhui also impressed and can be backed at 8/1 along with John Higgins.
Barry Hawkins is a 10/1 shot ahead of Marcu Fu and Shaun Murphy at 16/1, the latter having been advised by snooker expert Simon Crawford at 25/1 prior to the tournament.
An accumulator on all eight winning their matches on Friday pays just upwards of 7/1.
Click here for all Sky Bet's snooker markets
China Championship: Friday's odds & schedule
Click here for all Sky Bet's snooker markets
Afternoon Session (1400 local, 0700 BST)
Second Round (Best of nine frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport 1
Mark Selby v Zhou Yuelong (Match 40)
Martin Gould v Mark Joyce (Match 41)
Stephen Maguire v Yan Bingtao (Match 42)
Anthony Hamilton v Shaun Murphy (Match 43)
Barry Hawkins v Mark Davis (Match 44)
Ali Carter v David Grace (Match 45)
Fergal O'Brien v Kurt Maflin (Match 46)
Ronnie O'Sullivan v David Gilbert (Match 49)
Evening Session (1930 local, 1230 BST)
Second Round (Best of nine frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport 1
Alan McManus v Ding Junhui (Match 47)
Judd Trump v Graeme Dott (Match 48)
Mike Dunn v Allan Taylor (Match 50)
Luca Brecel v Marco Fu (Match 51)
Li Hang v Michael White (Match 52)
Matthew Stevens v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Match 53)
Ryan Day v Mark Williams (Match 54)
Tom Ford v John Higgins(Match 55)
Click here for the full tournament results and daily schedule
