Ronnie O’Sullivan through in China, Mark Williams on fire

The five-time world champion made the century in the opening frame, with further scores of 67, 64 and 84 seeing him through.

O’Sullivan will face Elliot Slessor in the first round.

Mark Williams made six consecutive 50+ breaks – including sittings of 131 and 129 – as he demolished Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-1 to reach the second round. Mark Allen was a winner by the same scoreline against Noppon Saengkham, while Luca Brecel fell to Cao Yupeng 6-4.

Mark Selby managed to hold off a spirited challenge from Wang Yuchen in his match, playing his way back out of trouble in the final frame after Yuchen played for snookers. Ding Junhui defeated Scott Carrington 6-2 in his qualification round.

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.

With additional reporting from PA