Lisowski can’t halt O’Sullivan

RONNIE O’Sullivan celebrated his 43rd birthday by cruising into the quarter-finals of the UK Championships with a 6-1 win over Gloucestershire’s Jack Lisowski.

O’Sullivan hit back-to-back centuries in the fifth and sixth frames as he reeled off six in a row to claim victory.

Lisowski had taken the first frame of the match but missed a series of chances and was made to pay by the defending champion.

Stephen Maguire staged a stunning comeback from 4-0 down to edge out world champion Mark Williams 6-5.

The world number 15 looked down and out when Williams raced into a big lead, but responded with three successive centuries as he pulled back into contention.

A further break of 97 put Maguire in front for the first time and despite missing a simple yellow for the match in frame 10, he held his nerve to edge over the line.