O'Sullivan turns on style to avoid first-round exit

Ronnie O'Sullivan made four centuries in the final five frames to beat world number 76 Allan Taylor 6-5 in the first round of the International Championship.

Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan trailed his fellow Englishman by two frames on three separate occasions in Nanjing, China.

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 forced a decider, which O'Sullivan clinched with a 128 break to set up a second-round meeting with England's Sanderson Lam.

Taylor looked poised for a 4-1 lead but, having potted a red to leave O'Sullivan needing a snooker, 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.

Taylor won a nervy sixth frame in which both players missed chances, but it was vintage O'Sullivan from that point on as he punished any errors and demonstrated his exceptional cue ball control.

A superb long red got him going in the deciding frame and, with the balls in ideal position, he sealed victory with ease.

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.

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.

World champion Zhao Xintong cruised through his first-round contest against England's Oliver Brown.

China's Zhao, who has struggled for regular victories since winning the world title in Sheffield in May, made a 135 break in the opening frame of a 6-1 win.

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

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 fellow Chinese Wang Xinzhong.