English Open Snooker 2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan sports pink nails in English Open first-round win

ByEurosport

Updated 12/10/2020 at 21:53 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan sported pink nails in support of the breast cancer charity Future Dreams in English Open first-round win over Brian Ochoiski. Mark Selby began his title defence with a comfortable 4-0 win over Fan Zhengyi, but the news was not quite as positive for Jimmy White.

Ronnie O'Sullivan (World Snooker)

Image credit: Eurosport

Ronnie O'Sullivan sported pink nails in support of the breast cancer charity Future Dreams in English Open first-round win over Brian Ochoiski.

A huge shock looked to be on the cards as a century break from Ochoiski saw the 21-year-old take a 2-0 lead in Milton Keynes.

However, O'Sullivan rallied and his 1063rd century break got him up and running, and he never looked back, taking the match 4-2. Afterwards, he had a much more important message to get across.

English Open

Wilson: ‘I was supposed to be moving house tomorrow!’

00:07:27

03/12/2020 at 22:49

Best of 2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan sports pink nails for breast cancer charity

Ronnie O'Sullivan hits sparkling century during round one comeback

“It was just a friend of mine Andrew who said would you mind having a picture done with it, I said forget having a picture I’ll have a match or a tournament with it if you like, and he was like yeah great," O'Sullivan said. “It’s just great to raise awareness for such an important cause – women’s breast cancer. Leila [O'Sullivan's partner] said years ago I should have painted my nails but I was like nah, nah, nah. I suppose I have to thank her for this because she said it was alright to do.

You know what, I actually really like it. I think this could be here to stay. I can see myself still wearing it once breast cancer awareness month has gone. 100 per cent for the rest of the week. I’m on about the rest of my life. It’s a nice feeling.

'I think this could be here to stay' - O'Sullivan on his nails

Mark Selby made short work of his opener at the English Open, dispatching Fan Zhengyi 4-0.

The Jester from Leicester wasn't at his fluent best, with a high break of 70 in the match, but he had too much for his young opponent.

After winning the first frame on the black, Neil Robertson stormed into the next round. Runs of 114, 87 and 86 saw off Lyu Haotian, with Robertson meeting Mark Joyce next.

Ding Junhui is through to round two, but he did not have an easy ride, having had to come from 0-3 down to beat Si Jiahui. He plays Ian Burns or Luca Brecel next.

Jimmy White suffered an early exit as he was beaten 4-1 by Michael Holt, with White losing his rag late on, tossing the rest across the room.

'He is furious!' - Jimmy White launches rest after missed green

Yan Bingtao was another headline winner on the opening afternoon in Milton Keynes, dispatching Alan McManus 4-2.

It was an inauspicious start for the English Open however, with Stuart Carrington being forced to withdraw after testing positive for coronavirus. The world no. 49 had been due to play Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round of the ranking event, who received a bye to the next round.

In the final game of the day, Mark Allen booked a second-round clash with Robbie Williams after a battling 4-2 win over Mark King.

World no. 54 Sam Craigie also had to withdraw from the tournament after coming into contact with Carrington on Sunday. His scheduled first round opponent Anthony McGill received a bye.

Referee Andrew Barklam will not take part in the tournament as an official after he also tested positive for Covid-19.

All three will undergo a period of self-isolation. All others players and officials have been tested and have so far received negative results.

English Open prize money

Winner: £70,000
Runner-up: £30,000
Semi-finals: £20,000
Quarter-finals: £10,000
Last 16: £7,500
Last 32: £4,000
Last 64: £3,000
High break: £5,000
Total: £405,000

English Open first round draw

Daily Schedule

Monday 12 October

Martin O’Donnell 4-1 Ashley Carty
Lukas Kleckers 0-4 Hossein Vafaei
Mitchell Mann 1-4 Liam Highfield
David Grace 4-0 Paul S Davison
Scott Donaldson 1-4 Andy Hicks
Barry Pinches 0-4 Andrew Higginson
Zhou Yuelong 4-2 Chris Wakelin
Yan Bingtao 4-2 Alan McManus
Rod Lawler 0-4 Farakh Ajaib
Gerard Greene 1-4 Robbie Williams
Noppon Saengkham 1-4 Oliver Lines
Mark Selby 4-0 Fan Zhengyi
Martin Gould 1-4 Steven Hallworth
Neil Robertson 4-0 Lu Haotian
Ding Junhui 4-3 Si Jiahui
Michael Holt 4-1 Jimmy White
Joe Perry 4-1 Riley Parsons
Tian Pengfei 3-4 Mark Joyce
Sohail Vahedi 3-4 Joe O'Connor
Lei Peifan 4-3 Brandon Sargeant
Stephen Maguire 1-4 Akani Songsermsawad
Kurt Maflin 4-3 Peter Devlin
Ricky Walden 4-0 Billy Joe Castle
Ben Woollaston 4-2 Alex Borg
Fraser Patrick 3-4 Connor Benzey
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 Brian Ochoiski
Chang Bingyu 4-2 Aaron Hill
Ali Carter 1-3 Jamie Clarke - to be finished
Mark Allen 4-2 Mark King

2020 English Open odds

Judd Trump 10/3
Ronnie O'Sullivan 10/3
Mark Selby 13/2
Neil Robertson 17/2
Shaun Murphy 12/1

English Open

Join 3M+ users on app

Stay up to date with the latest news, results and live sports

Download

Scan me