Ronnie O'Sullivan eases past Andy Hicks at Northern Ireland Open after Mark Selby survives huge scare on final black

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 11/10/2021 at 22:08 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan dropped just one frame as he beat Andy Hicks in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open, setting up a meeting with Alfie Burden next. There were also wins for Mark Williams, John Higgins and Mark Selby. Watch the Northern Ireland Open and the snooker Home Nations series live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.

Ronnie O’Sullivan enjoyed another comprehensive victory at the Northern Ireland Open as he beat Andy Hicks 4-1 to reach the second round.

O’Sullivan, who has lost in the final of the tournament for the last three years in a row, wasn't at his very best throughout but still made four half-century breaks.

He will next face Alfie Burden, who was a 4-2 winner against Yuan SiJun.

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Having swept through his opening match in Belfast against Stuart Carrington, O’Sullivan overcame a scrappy start to take the first frame against Hicks with a break of 76.

O’Sullivan then missed a good chance in the second frame when he failed to pot a red with the rest.

• 'I wasn't bothered if I won or lost' - O'Sullivan 'very bored' in win over Hicks
• 'Would you believe it?' - Selby drops rest on brown
• Northern Ireland Open: Draw, schedule, scores

O'Sullivan closes out comfortable win over Hicks in Belfast

Hicks took advantage to level the match, only for O’Sullivan to reply with a 54 break that made it 2-1.

Hicks had an opportunity to level again as he moved 37-0 ahead in the fourth frame. However, he missed a long red to the corner and a break of 65 gave O’Sullivan the frame.

There was another opening for Hicks in the fifth frame, but when he split the reds he decided to play safe rather than risk a tricky pot.

That was to be his last time at the table as O’Sullivan wrapped up the win with a break of 90 to book his place in the next round.

World No 1 Mark Selby avoided a huge scare earlier in the day as Cao Yupeng missed the final black of the match that would have seen him beat the world No 1.

John Higgins made breaks of 113, 85 and 54 as he beat Farakh Ajaib 4-2 while Mark Williams won a final-frame decider against Elliot Slessor to advance.

Robert Lines breezed past Ben Woollaston as breaks of 54, 115 and 71 helped him record a 4-0 win.

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