Snooker news - O'Sullivan sees off Liang comeback to reach World Grand Prix quarter-finals

Updated 06/02/2020 at 09:03 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan was forced to dig deep to see off a plucky performance from Liang Wenbo and set up a World Grand Prix quarter-final against Graeme Dott.

Ronnie O'Sullivan | Snooker | ESP Player Feature

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O'Sullivan started the encounter unencumbered, winning the first two frames at a canter thanks to breaks of 120 and 100.

Liang then came to life, winning the next two frames to level the tie, before a third century from O'Sullivan restored his lead.

The 32-year-old won the sixth to force the match into a deciding frame, which O'Sullivan edged 67-48.

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He plays Graeme Dott in the next round and the Scot was not troubled as much during his 4-0 win over Xiao Guodong.

In the other completed second-round clash, Tom Ford saw off Matthew Selt 4-2, setting up a quarter-final meeting with Gary Wilson who beat Matthew Stevens 4-1.

Previously, John Higgins beat Masters champion Stuart Bingham 4-2 to reach the second round of the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham.

Higgins, who has never made it past the second round of the tournament, started positively as a break of 60 helped him into a 2-0 lead.

Bingham hit back with breaks of 53 and 57 to level the match, only for Higgins to restore his advantage.

It looked as though Bingham would take the contest to a decider with a break of 64 in the sixth frame, but world No 6 Higgins took the frame on the black.

Higgins will next face Zhao Xintong after he won 4-2 against fellow Chinese player Yan Bingtao.

Zhao surged into a 3-0 lead, helped by a break of 103 in the third frame, and sealed victory with a 77 break.

In the final first-round match, Mark Williams defeated Barry Hawkins 4-2 to set up a second-round meeting with Neil Robertson of New Zealand.

Williams played the match in specially approved footwear as he was suffering from a bout of gout, but is expected to be healed in time for Thursday's meeting with Robertson.

WORLD GRAND PRIX ROUND ONE RESULTS