Donaldson to face world No 1 Selby at China Open

Perth snooker player Scott Donaldson faces a rematch with world champion and world No 1 Mark Selby at the China Open in Beijing today.

The 24-year-old famously beat Selby 6-3 at the UK Championship in York in December, and Donaldson has continued that form into 2018, reaching his second ranking semi-final at last month’s Gibraltar Open before losing to the eventual winner Ryan Day.

Selby earned another shot at Donaldson after battling past local player Wang Yuchen yesterday.

Ronnie O’Sullivan meanwhile started with a century as he cruised into the main draw.

The Rocket added breaks of 67, 64 and 84 to his opening 110 in a 6-2 win over Scot Ross Muir in his held over qualifier in Beijing.

Home favourites Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo also made it into the tournament proper, respectively beating Michael Georgiou 6-2 and Rhys Clark 6-1, while Peter Ebdon dismissed Chang Bingyu 6-2.

In first-round action, Mark Williams continued his impressive form this season by beating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-1 with two centuries and Mark Allen made three as he beat Noppon Saengkham by the same scoreline.

Former world champion Stuart Bingham beat Matthew Stevens, twice a Crucible finalist but now down to number 53 in the world rankings, 6-5 with breaks of 92 and 55 to come from 5-4 down.