Welsh Open: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Sanderson Lam 4-2

Despite knocking in breaks of 95 and 116, O'Sullivan turned in a ragged performance that was littered with errors and saw him grow increasingly frustrated as the afternoon went on.

O'Sullivan missed three times from distance before Lam took the opening frame and though The Rocket responded with a run of 52 to win frame two, further mistakes followed as he fell 2-1 behind.

More wild misses from distance came at the start of frame four but O'Sullivan discovered some fluency when eventually finding himself well set in the balls and he raced round the table to stroke in a fabulous century, only for referee Brendan Moore to call a foul on the pink after O'Sullivan had potted the following red before the colour was re-spotted.

O'Sullivan didn't fall foul in frame five, though, fairly motoring around the arena to clear the table with a fabulous break of 116 before taking a scrappy frame six and booking his place in the next round.

More from the daytime session

Barry Hawkins was a 4-0 winner against Sunny Akani, a break of 91 in the second frame his highest of the match, while Nigel Bond beat Alan McManus 4-3 in a prolonged battle of the veterans.

Kyren Wilson, winner of the recent German Masters, was a 4-0 winner against Andy Lee, despite some sloppy misses which cost him a century or two along the way, and Stuart Bingham beat Ali Carter by the same scoreline.

There was a popular winner on one of the outside tables, too, as Jimmy White won three frames on the bounce to beat Andrew Higginson 4-2.

In the morning, Ding Junhui enjoyed a comfortable morning as he defeated Chris Totten 4-0 in a low-quality match where neither player made a break over 50.

Evening session

World number one Mark Selby coasted past Anthony McGill in the opening round as he opened up with a break of 139 before producing three further half-century clearances to see off the Scot.

Australian Neil Robertson later recorded his 4th maximum during frame four of his 4-1 win over Jordan Brown - and followed with a clearance of 140 to march into the second round.

Tuesday's final match saw Joe Perry chalk up a 136 break as he battle to a 4-3 win over Mark Davis in a match which finished after midnight.

Elsewhere in Tuesday's evening session, world number 14 Luca Brecel was knocked out 4-2 by Kurt Maflin, while James Wattana was pushed to a final frame victory by Chen Zifan.

World Grand Prix runner-up Ali Carter suffered an early exit with a 4-0 defeat to Stuart Bingham, while world number seven Kyren Wilson chalked up half-century breaks in each frame as he swept past Andy Lee by the same scoreline.

Mike Dunn was the first victor in the evening session, with a straight forward 4-0 win over Robert Milkins.

Billy Joe Castle saw off the challenge of German Simon Lichtenberg 4-3, aided by a 100-1 victory in the opening frame, inspired by a break of 82.

Zhang Anda also won 4-3 in his victory over Martin Gould, as he record four breaks of over 50, peaking with a 73 in the third frame.

Alex Taubman was defeated 4-2 by Elliot Slessor; while Tom Ford saw off Ashley Carty by the same scoreline.

Related snooker links

• Richard Mann's outright Welsh Open preview
• More snooker news, previews and reports
• Sky Bet's snooker odds