O'Sullivan & Trump fight hard for first-round wins

Ronnie O'Sullivan has won a record 41 ranking titles

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump successfully made it through close first-round matches on the opening day of the International Championship in Nanjing, China.

Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan made four centuries in the final five frames to beat world number 76 Allan Taylor 6-5, having trailed his fellow Englishman by two frames on three separate occasions.

Meanwhile, world number one Trump was a 6-4 victor against Dylan Emery, who is ranked 91st in the world.

Welshman Emery impressed throughout and drew level at 4-4 with a 120 break - his second century of the match.

But English left-hander Trump, 36, moved ahead again before finishing the match with a century of his own, meaning he will face another Welshman - former World Championship runner-up Matthew Stevens - in round two.

'It never feels like a grind when you're cueing well'

O'Sullivan, who turns 50 next month, is selective about the tournaments he competes in.

He has reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters and Xi'an Grand Prix and the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters this season - but was in danger of an early exit in Nanjing.

Taylor looked poised for a 4-1 lead but, having potted a red to leave O'Sullivan needing a snooker, he went in-off when potting the black with his next shot.

World number five O'Sullivan made a clearance of 48 to cut the deficit to 3-2, before Taylor won a nervy sixth frame in which both players missed chances.

From 4-2 behind, O'Sullivan knocked in breaks of 100, 119 and 129 to move in front for the first time.

Taylor's 53 in the 10th frame then forced a decider, which O'Sullivan clinched with a 128 break to set up a second-round meeting with England's Sanderson Lam.

O'Sullivan told the WST website: "It never feels like a grind when you're cueing well.

"I'm enjoying playing more than I have done for maybe over a decade.

"When I play alright, the crowd appreciate the shots and the break-building. When I click into gear, that raises the temperature in there a little bit."

Zhao, Ding & 14-year-old Wang progress

A combination of pre-qualifier, first round and second-round matches were scheduled for the opening day of the tournament, which ends on 9 November.

Two-time women's world champion Bai Yulu made a 145 - the highest break by a female player in professional competition - in her 6-4 pre-qualifier loss to 14-year-old wildcard Wang Xinzhong.

Chinese teenager Wang's second win of the day, a 6-1 victory against England's Robbie Williams, set up a second-round tie with Masters champion Shaun Murphy.

Home favourites Ding Junhui and Zhao Xintong were comfortable first-round winners against English duo David Grace and Oliver Brown respectively.

But England's Chris Wakelin, beaten by Ding in last year's International Championship final, lost 6-2 in round two against China's Jiang Jun, the world number 111.

Also in the second round, four-time Crucible champion Mark Selby from England beat China's Liu Hongyu 6-5 to progress to the last 32.