Wuhan Snooker Open 2023 LIVE – Ronnie O’Sullivan eases past Ken Doherty after Mark Allen progresses

That’s it for our first day at the Wuhan Open. We’ll be back from 07.15 BST on Tuesday for more live action.

In the UK and the rest of Europe, you can watch all the action live on Eurosport and discovery+.

Ken leaves a red over the middle right pocket and it’s the last he’ll see of this tournament.

The Rocket really got into his groove as this match developed and another break in the 80s is enough to ease him into the last 64.

• Si Jiahui 1-2 Wang Xinzhong
• Anthony Hamilton 4-0 Wang Xinbo
• Zhou Yuelong 3-2 Baipat Siripaporn
• Ding Junhui 3-2 Ashley Hugill

The two players chase that final red around the table until O’Sullivan ends the discussion by sending it down. It’s all he’s bothered about and Ken stays rooted to his seat.

The Rocket is now a frame away from victory.

It’s looking bleak for Ken now as he can’t quite tease a red to middle left. Ronnie steps in again and is a whisker away from sealing the frame when a clever plant on two reds down the right rail just fails to come off.

Ken needs a snooker but returns to the table. He needs to keep that red hovering over the bottom right pocket out and manages to stun it clear. Hard to see him pulling off the steal but he’s going to keep fighting and hoping.

Doherty plays some slick safety but when one doesn’t quite go to plan – Ronnie pounces!

The reds aren’t positioned great with the majority leaning towards the right rail. It may get complicated later on in this break but the seven-time champion mops up the more routine pots and moves towards the half century.

A blue across the baulk cushion to the green pocket is followed by a red to bottom right and a black to the left.

He’s considering how to approach the four reds surrounding the pink on the right cushion when he blows a make-able red to middle right.

• Si Jiahui 1-1 Wang Xinzhong
• Anthony Hamilton 4-0 Wang Xinbo
• Zhou Yuelong 3-1 Baipat Siripaporn
• Ding Junhui 2-2 Ashley Hugill

The Rocket taps the table as Doherty splits the reds and gets the cue ball safe in baulk. The World No.1 can’t come up with an answer and leaves on a red that the Irishman duly sinks.

There’s a tricky long yellow to its home pocket on, but given the scoreline, he knows he can’t be so bold now and has to play another safety in case a miss let O’Sullivan in.

We are back and it’s Ken who gets the first chance. It’s a good one too as he reels off red-blue-red to present himself with a major opportunity.

He sends in the blue to the middle right and looks to cannon directly into the top of the pink and split the pack. However, he doesn’t get the connection he’s looking for and the pack remain intact. He plays a delicate safety into the top of the pack but there’s no doubt he could have had a frame-winning situation there if he’d got the split.

• Si Jiahui 1-0 Wang Xinzhong
• Anthony Hamilton 3-0 Wang Xinbo
• Zhou Yuelong 3-1 Baipat Siripaporn
• Ding Junhui 1-2 Ashley Hugill

Alarm bells will be ringing for Ken as O’Sullivan seizes command of the table after the Irishman failed to sink a tricky red.

We’ve seen this situation many times over the years with the pack nicely spread for The Rocket to win it at this visit.

It’s remarkable how easy the World No.1 makes it look when he strolls around the table rapidly reeling off the reds. Few players are so composed at lightning pace and it quickly becomes clear Doherty will be two down heading into the interval.

The only surprise is that we don’t see the first century of the match as O’Sullivan blows a red across to the middle right to finish on a break of 89.

Doherty chips in with a six to remain firmly in contention and then lays a trap for O’Sullivan by moving the final red up to baulk and leaving the cue ball near to the pink by the left cushion.

It’s not perfect, but good enough as Ronnie clips the yellow in his rescue attempt via the upper left rail. Doherty should seize it from there but after popping in a red and a blue to the middle pockets, he has to play the yellow away from baulk as a result of overrunning.

Doherty seemed to be in clear control but then all-but hands the frame to The Rocket with an avoidable foul.

A bullet, long yellow sees O’Sullivan show no mercy as he paves the path to a 2-1 lead, clearing up the black.

Doherty takes on a shot to nothing with a long red and gets his reward. He coolly despatches a brown across baulk into the yellow pocket but then blows a red down to the bottom left corner.

O’Sullivan steps in but after a couple of very tidy pots, including a fine cut on a red up to middle right, he blows a pink down to the bottom right.

It’s gone rather scrappy out there with neither player showing much consistency in this frame. Who is going to put something together to nick it from here?

The Irishman may be attack-minded but it needs to come off if he’s going to produce any sort of upset here.

Another bold attempt leaves a simple red on for Ronnie and he sets about tearing into his opponent’s lead.

It’s looking good but he gets a ricochet he doesn’t want and can’t nick down a blue that ends his run on 38.

Doherty is looking to play bold, attacking snooker here. He takes on one of the two reds to the left of the pack and arrows a tricky shot bang into the centre of the middle-left pocket. An even tougher black up to the same bag also drops in, but he can’t keep his run going beyond 22 as a long red up to the green pocket fails to go down.

O’Sullivan is first to show following a brief safety exchange but he blows a make-able black after sizzling down a long red to the green pocket.

Ouch. Ronnie has an opening with a fine cut on a red to the bottom left. He can’t quite find the right angle and looks baffled as the cue ball darts off the left rail and makes a beeline right for the green pocket.

It’s a real slice of luck for Doherty, who has certainly had the rub of the green so far.

Doherty blinks first this time, making a very shaky and out-of-the-blue safety error that leaves the cue ball in the middle of a developing pack.

At first glance there’s nothing simple for The Rocket to jump on, but he manages to nudge in a red and find the position he wants after moving up to baulk to tease in a brown.

A solid pot on a red to bottom left via the rest puts him firmly in the driving seat and he confidently picks off the dispersed reds from the pack. A clever plant on another red and smart use of the blue to the middle pockets pretty much means Ken won’t be getting out of his seat and the World No.1 quickly levels matters with a superb break of 88, just coming up shy at an attempt at another century when the final red down the right rail refuses the pocket’s invitation.

The Rocket looks to provide an instant response and produces a typically eye-catching long pot to open Frame 2. He opts for a snooker to try and develop a better opening south of the pack, but Doherty ducks out of danger and no-one has a clear advantage as it stands.

An safety impasse briefly ensues but it’s The Darlin’ of Dublin who gets the first opening, nicking in a lovely red and building position via a black to one of the bottom bags.

There are three reds in slightly awkward proximity to the left rail, but he doesn’t need them in the pressure moments, moving beyond frame ball before sinking the first of them to the middle left. He’s miles off a clearance but it’s academic really as another run of 40 secures the opening frame.

The 54-year-old Irishman fills his boots on the back of that Ronnie miss, easing down a free red to the bottom left and quickly building a decent run with a succession of simple enough red-black combos.

He ventures up the table to retain momentum, tucking in the yellow to its home pocket, but he soon overruns on a red to the bottom right. A brown to the yellow pocket is neatly cued but there’s no red on from there and his break concludes on 30.

It’s a sloppy start from Ken as he leaves the cue ball left of the pack and a red plum for the taking to the bottom right. The Rocket coolly cuts it in and then sinks a yellow to land on a red down to the bottom right again. It’s relatively routine for a player of Ronnie’s ilk but he can’t tease it into the bag and there’s a surprise opening for the Dubliner now.

The Chinese star cruised to victory in his only previous meeting with Hugill. The man nicknamed ‘Enter the Dragon’ roared to a 4-0 win this 2023 Welsh Open.

The Rocket owns the match-up 9-3 and has won the last four on the bounce against The Darlin’ of Dublin.

Hello and welcome to our updates of the action from the 2023 Wuhan Open. We’ll be focusing on an intriguing battle between two world champions. Seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan meets veteran Ken Doherty, who conquered the snooker world way back in 1997. Elsewhere, Ashley Hugill meets World No.16 Ding Junhui.

O’Sullivan is up against fellow veteran Ken Doherty – seven years The Rocket’s senior – as he looks to get off to a winning start.

Elsewhere on Monday, Ding Junhui starts his tournament on home soil against Ashley Hugill.