Welsh Open Day 6

Ronnie O'Sullivan makes it into the last 32 with a 4-1 win
over Barry Pinches. Image: Monique Limbos

Ronnie O’Sullivan was not at his best but he booked his place in the last 32 of the Welsh Open by beating tour veteran Barry Pinches 4-1 this evening. The Rocket looked set to start the match on style with a maximum butrattled the 14th red in the jaws but went onto dominate proceedings to secure the victory. He’ll play Xiao Guodong in the third round tomorrow.

World number one Neil Robertson also progressed as he whitewashed the now Qatari-based Rory McLeod. Robbo pulled a century closer to reaching 100 this season by hitting a 104 in the last frame, meaning he’s now up to 87.

He’ll play local favourite Mark Williams in the next round after the two-times Welsh Open winner also recorded a 4-0 win over Tian Pengfei, the highlight a 108 in the final frame.

Ding Junhui’s hopes of a adding a fifth ranking title to his name this season at Newport remain alive as he beat Stoke’s Jamie Cope 4-1, making a top break of 108 in the opener. He faces Ben Woollaston in the last 32 after the Leicester potter beat Alfie Burden 4-1.

Shaun Murphy will also hope to go deep into this tournament after a recent upturn in form and he overcame Craig Steadman 4-2 in an all-Manchester clash. He takes on Liang Wenbo in the next round after he whitewashed Fergal O’Brien, with two 113 breaks.

Graeme Dott secured a close victory at the expense of one of the Welsh players as Neath’s Jamie Jones was beaten 4-3 and will face Marco Fu tomorrow. Stuart Bingham also secured a last 32 place thanks to a 4-2 victory over Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and will play Michael Holt next.

Another Welshman to bite the dust on Tuesday was Ryan Day who suffered a 4-1 defeat to up and coming Scottish prospect Anthony McGill. He’s joined in the last 32 by another young player, Jack Lisowski, who saw off Martin Gould 4-1. Lisowski faces Barry Hawkins next after he beat Cao Yupeng 4-3.

Ricky Walden face Anthony Hamilton in the next round after beating Matt Selt 4-2, with Hamilton seeing off Li Hang 4-1. The last match of the day saw Mark King secure a 4-2 victory over Alan McManus.

Action on Wednesday sees the last 32 played out, with sessions live all day on British Eurosport and afternoon and evening matches on BBC Two Wales, red button and BBC Snooker website.