English Open snooker LIVE – Ronnie O’Sullivan begins title quest after Mark Williams suffers shock exit – Eurosport

Almost set to go with the snooker GOAT, who begins his campaign against world No. 64 He Guoqiang on his home turf at the back of 7pm. O’Sullivan won this trophy in 2017 and will join Judd Trump and Mark Selby as double winners if he is still standing on Sunday. Meanwhile, Luca Brecel is second on the main showpiece table against Anthony Hamilton after 8pm. Could be a good night if you play your cards right.

That’s it from us for the time being but we’ll be back very soon to bring you the best of the evening action.

The evening session kicks off in around an hour as ‘The Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan begins his quest for the title. He takes on China’s He Guoqiang in the headline encounter.

Elsewhere, John Higgins, Luca Brecel and Jack Lisowski will also be in action on what promises to be an intriguing Tuesday night inside the Brentwood Centre.

Neil Robertson wraps up the win in style. The former world champion knocks in a century to beat Jackson Page 4-1 and ease into the fourth round.

Up next for the Australian is a mouth-watering clash with Shaun Murphy.

Woollaston wins it. At the end of a scrappy encounter, a break of 70 is ultimately enough for the Englishman to advance into the last 32 and set up a meeting with Zak Surety.

Far from a classic but they all count.

Woollaston is eager to snuff out Williams’ comeback before it gets going. He pots a great opening red to get in and is compiling the best break of the match.

The reds are in good positions – he just needs to keep his composure.

Elsewhere, Stephen Maguire has completed a 4-0 victory over Bulcsu Revesz, while Neil Robertson leads Jackson Page 3-1.

That’s more like it. A trademark long red gets Williams back in among the balls and he clinches the frame from there with ease.

He has avoided the whitewash and given himself a chance of mounting a comeback.

Williams puts some points on the board but can’t take the frame in one visit. Given how the match has gone to this point, though, he does hold a healthy advantage.

Having said that, Woollaston has just rifled in a long red and snookered his opponent behind the green.

Woollaston remains in the ascendancy, albeit the highest break of the match after more than an hour is still just 32.

He needs a few chances but a pink with the rest puts him 54 ahead with just 51 remaining. The Englishman cleans up the last three reds and it’s now 3-0.

After falling 2-0 behind, Barry Hawkins has reeled off four frames in a row to move into the last 32 where he will take on Jack Lisowski or Xu Si.

Williams finally pots the last red, but he can only manage a break of three. We’re down to the colours at least.

Woollaston pots yellow, green and brown to leave Williams needing snookers and eventually gets over the line to take a 2-0 lead.

Earlier, Mark Allen was pushed all the way by Long Zehuang. Here’s what he said to Eurosport after winning 4-3.

This marathon second frame is still ongoing. There have been several fouls, fluked snookers, and little in the way of quality.

The colours are all off their spots and the last red is proving incredibly stubborn.

Like the first frame, both Williams and Woollaston have missed chances to take the second. It’s just not happening for either player in this match.

Williams knocks in a trademark shot to nothing and ties his opponent up behind the brown, but Woollaston does brilliantly to escape.

Here is rundown of how the matches in progress currently stand:

• Mark Williams 0-1 Ben Woollaston
• Barry Hawkins 2-2 Jimmy Robertson
• Stephen Maguire 1-0 Bulcsu Revesz
• Neil Robertson 1-0 Jackson Page

Woollaston mops up the tricky reds and pots the final yellow before a poor miss on the green. Williams needs one snooker and returns to the table, but he concedes after leaving the brown on.

It’s a frame full of mistakes. Woollaston misses a simple pink to allow Williams another opportunity.

The reds are sitting awkwardly, though, and the Welshman misses a long red up to the yellow pocket.

A loose safety from Williams gives Woollaston the first chance but he can only manage 22. William then gets his hand on the table but can only put 12 points on the board after he misses a tricky pink.

Mark Williams is up next against Ben Woollaston. The Welshman was beaten in a thrilling final against Judd Trump at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and remains one of the best players in the world.

The outcome could have been very different had Allen not benefited from this fluke.

Breaks of 54 and 75 have given Jimmy Robertson a 2-0 lead over Barry Hawkins in their last-64 tie.

Elsewhere, Lyu Haotian has completed a 4-2 victory over Dominic Dale to set up a meeting with Allen in the next round.

Matthew Selt fended off Ricky Walden to win another final-frame decider. He led 3-1 before Walden fought back to level, but a break of 81 got Selt over the line

Allen is through! It isn’t a match that will live long in the memory but winning is all that matters.

He’ll surely need to improve is he is to have any serious ambitions of lifting the title, but getting through a game like that could free him up to produce something closer to his best stuff.

Long attempts a tricky red along the rail and it sits in the jaws. Allen’s path is blocked by the black, but he swerves the white just enough to get it to drop.

He doesn’t finish on a colour and has to play safe but returns to pot a sublime red up into the green pocket.

Long then has a half-chance to keep his hopes alive but he can’t get the red to go as Allen moves 40 points clear with just 35 on the table.

Allen is taking these well but there is a bunch of seven reds sitting awkwardly around the black spot to navigate.

In picking off the first one he develops a few more as he extends his lead, but the black is still tied up.

He continues to land perfectly on the blue and pink, however, before a canon on the reds on the top rail goes wrong.

The Northern Irishman plays safe but goes back to his chair with a handy advantage.

Long follows through with the white after potting a red into the bottom-left corner but there’s no damage done beyond the loss of four points.

He is then offered a chance at a long red and makes a brilliant break of 13 before getting unlucky when a red blocks the path for the blue to the left middle.

A miss on the yellow then leaves Allen with an opportunity to respond.

Ricky Walden is now just 3-2 behind after winning the fifth frame against Matthew Selt.

Here’s the shot that allowed Long to take a 3-2 lead over Allen.

With the winning line in sight, a canon goes slightly awry. He still has a red available but it’s a tricky cut.

He gets the extension out and sends it into the heart of the pocket before slotting a lovely pink to put the frame beyond doubt.

Allen flukes a red and lays a tight snooker behind the yellow. Long fails to escape and leaves Allen a chance to finally put some points on the board.

He moves 58 points ahead to close on levelling and setting up a deciding frame.

Tom Ford becomes the latest top-16 player to be knocked out after the Englishman was beaten 4-2 by Jiang Jun.

In the other matches ongoing, Lyu Haotian and Dominic Dale are locked at 2-2, while Matthew Selt leads Ricky Walden 3-1.

Long does brilliantly to get out of a snooker and leaves Allen in a tricky spot – the run of the balls is definitely favouring the Chinese player.

Allen hits the red far too thin and presents Long with a simple pot and chance to win the frame. He makes a break of 69 and is now just one away from claiming a big scalp.

Bridging over the green, Long misses a red to the middle. Allen has a chance to the same pocket but can’t get it to fall – he hasn’t potted a ball since he won the second frame.

He is 51 points behind but will be happy to still be alive in this frame.

Allen pots the white and sticks a red up over the right middle to give Long has another simple opener – this has quickly become a very uncharacteristic display from the Northern Irishman.

Long is running out of loose reds, so he will have to split the pack when he gets a chance.

Allen concedes after yet another poor safety shot and we’re level at 2-2.

Long runs slightly out of position but rescues the situation when he runs in and out of baulk after finishing low on a blue.

Another overhit red makes frame ball harder than it needs to be but he slots it into the top corner before playing safe.

Allen returns to the table trailing by 71 with just 67 available.

Long is in first again after a brilliant red along the top rail. He lands on the pink and has another chance to open up a healthy lead.

The black is tied up but he races to 35 and all Allen can do is watch on.

After losing the first frame, Jiang Jun now leads Tom Ford 3-1 in the race to four.

Elsewhere, Lyu Haotian is 2-1 up against Dominic Dale, while Matthew Selt leads Ricky Walden by the same scoreline.

A poor positional shot sees Long break down on 65 but he has done enough to half his deficit. We’ve got a match on our hands now.

Long is offered a reprieve after a loose Allen safety. The balls aren’t lying perfectly but this time he is able to string together some excellent shots to move 50 points ahead in the frame.

Long pots a sublime blue after a straightforward opening red. He has a chance to make a sizable break but immediately misses a simple red to the corner.

Mistakes like that are just unforgivable at this level.

Here are the scores across the other tables.

• Tom Ford 1-2 Jiang Jun
• Lyu Haotian 1-1 Dominic Dale
• Matthew Selt 1-1 Ricky Walden

Speaking to Eurosport ahead of his match against Long, Allen discussed his season so far and his ambitions for the tournaments to come.

The Northern Irishman moves 2-0 ahead with a brilliant break of 88.

With the open reds, he was hardly out of perfect position, while some intricate canons helped him put the frame beyond doubt.

Allen is among the balls with the kind of chance he used to mop up for fun. Can he double his lead in one visit?

A simple red wriggles in on 24 but he is taking them well otherwise.

Allen attempts a thin safety on a red but misses it twice before changing his approach and playing a containing shot.

It’s another slow start to a frame but Allen has become something of a master in recent years when matches turn ugly.

Elsewhere, Tom Ford is level at 1-1 with Jiang Jun, Dominic Dale leads Lyu Haotian 1-0, and Ricky Walden is 1-0 up against Matthew Selt.

Long misses a half-chance on a red and leaves it on for Allen. He clears the table to finally put the opening frame on the board.

It was far from vintage stuff but they all count.

A mistake from Long leaves a red over one of the bottom corner pockets. Allen makes no mistake and lands nicely on the blue.

He runs out of position a few shots later but recovers with a brilliant long red into the yellow pocket.

Long misses a black off the spot by a big margin in what is turning into a scrappy opener. Allen nails a good mid-range red to get going again but then fails to develop the pack off the green and has to play safe.

The first chance falls the way of the Northern Irishman after Long fails to hit a red twice in a row and then takes on a pot to avoid falling foul of the three-miss rule.

It doesn’t drop, though, leaving Allen with a great chance to put some points on the board. Surprisingly, he manages a break of just eight and now Long is at the table.

For now, though, we’ll be focusing on Mark Allen’s encounter against Long Zehuang. The best-of-seven match is underway with the winner to take on either Lyu Haotian or Dominic Dale in the next round.

Ronnie O’Sullivan begins his quest for his home title against China’s He Guoqiang at 19:00 BST.

John Higgins, Jack Lisowski and Luca Brecel will also feature in a star-studded evening session.

As mentioned, some big names will be in action this afternoon – here’s a full rundown of the what’s to come over the next few hours.

• Tom Ford v Jiang Jun
• Lyu Haotian v Dominic Dale
• Matthew Selt v Ricky Walden
• Mark Allen v Long Zehuang

• Neil Robertson v Jackson Page
• Mark Williams v Ben Woollaston
• Stephen Maguire v Bulcsy Revesz
• Barry Hawkins v Jimmy Robertson

Before we get started, here’s a round-up of the two early matches from this morning as Hossein Vafaei took on Matthew Stevens and Gary Wilson faced Ross Muir. Both went all the way to a final-frame decider, but it was Vafaei and Muir who secured 4-3 victories to move into the next round.

Welcome to another day of action from the English Open as players battle it out for a spot in the last 32. The likes of Mark Williams, Neil Robertson and Mark Allen will be on the baize over the next few hours and we will bring you all the updates as and when they happen.