World Grand Prix snooker results: Ronnie O'Sullivan wins in decider and John Higgins beats Stuart Bingham

O'Sullivan held his nerve to win 4-3 and book his place in the last eight, but not before Liang had the deciding frame at his mercy.

Liang - who had trailed 2-0 and 3-2 - failed to get on the green after potting a straightforward yellow.

And he then allowed O'Sullivan, who had made a masterful 132 break in the fifth frame, to clear following a poor shot on the brown.

Five-time world champion O'Sullivan will play Graeme Dott next after he made light work of China's Xiao Guodong in a 4-0 whitewash, while Tom Ford overcame Matthew Selt 4-2.

Mark Williams defied a bout of gout to beat Barry Hawkins 4-2. The three-time world champion wore a slipper-style soft shoe but was in obvious pain as he limped around the table to play his shots.

"I've never had gout before," Welshman Williams, 44, told ITV 4 after setting up a second-round clash with Neil Robertson.

"I've heard people say how painful it is and now I know, it's unbelievable. You can't get a sock on it. You're lying in bed and can't even have the bed sheets touch you.

"You're screaming in pain and you can't do anything about it."

Higgins sees off Bingham

John Higgins resisted a brief comeback from Stuart Bingham to win 4-2 in the first round.

Bingham's first appearance since claiming his maiden Masters title last month ultimately ended in defeat after he recovered from a sloppy start to level the scores at 2-2 before Higgins killed off the match in typically ruthless fashion.

The opening frame was littered with unforced errors, Bingham twice benefiting from huge flukes while Higgins enjoyed a big one himself as he eventually struck the first blow.

A run of 60 from Higgins in frame two allowed the Scot to double his lead but Bingham responded with timely breaks of 53 and 57 to square the scores and suggest it was he who was about to take control of the match.

However, a break of 58 allowed Higgins to build a healthy advantage in frame five and though Bingham made him sweat when laying a fine snooker in his bid to steal the fame, Higgins shut the door firmly closed when finding a brilliant long red to the yellow pocket.

To his credit, Bingham seemed sure to level the scores once again when compiling a break of 64 in frame six but when he lost the cue-ball with the frame not yet dead, Higgins pounced, a nerveless clearance that needed all the colours allowing him to pinch the frame and set up a second-round meeting with Zhao Xintong.

Xintong booked his place in the second round when coming out on top of an entertaining clash with Yan Bingtao, eventually prevailing 4-2.

Breaks of 56 and 103 helped Xintong race into a 3-0 lead but Bingtao produced a steely response, offerings of 88 and 72 getting him right back into the match.

However, Xintong looked in excellent touch all afternoon and closed out the match with a breezy run of 77 that continued his strong run of recent form.

For the second time in a month, Kyren Wilson produced a terrific comeback to beat Jack Lisowski.

Wilson won six frames on the bounce when coming from 2-0 down to down Lisowski at the Masters only a few weeks ago and he overturned the same deficit here, eventually edging over the line 4-3.

Lisowski looked in ominous touch when winning the first two frames courtesy of breaks of 63 and 88 but Wilson stopped the rot with a run of 76 in frame three and he ran with that momentum to win frames four and five.

Another fluent contribution, this time of 64, saw Lisowski force a deciding frame but it was Wilson who proved the stronger at the finish, beginning the frame by laying a wicked snooker that allowed him to build a healthy lead before compiling an ultimately match-winning run of 52.