ROCKET LAUNCHES AND SHAUN OUSTS

Ronnie O’Sullivan produced his best performance of the season so far to beat David Gilbert 4-1 at the European Masters first round on Day 2 of the tournament.

The Rocket will now face Mark Allen in the last 16 on Wednesday in a showpiece clash at Romania’s first ever pro snooker tournament. Mark Allen eased to a 4-0 win over amateur Daniel Womersley, knocking in runs of 51, 53 and 122. 

World number three Shaun Murphy may have made a 147 in the qualifying rounds for this event last week, but he didn’t last long in Bucharest as he lost 4-1 to Mark Davis.

Davis, ranked 30, took a scrappy opening frame on the colours then added the second with a 42 clearance. Murphy pulled one back before a run of 100 from Sussex’s Davis put him 3-1 ahead. And a series of errors from former World Champion Murphy in the fifth frame allowed his opponent to clinch the victory.

Judd Trump came through a tough opening test against Ben Woollaston at the European Masters in Romania, winning 4-3 to set up a last 16 match with Andrew Higginson.

Trump looked in danger of an early exit in Bucharest when he trailed 3-2, but Woollaston passed up his chance to seal the victory and was duly punished.

Liang Wenbo beat Zak Surety 4-1 with a top break of 80 while Alfie Burden made 87, 78 and 61 in a 4-1 defeat of Yu Delu.

Scott Donaldson reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the third time in his career with a 4-3 win over Brecel. From 2-0 down, Scotland’s Donaldson won three frames in a row, making three breaks of 52. Brecel leveled the tie before Donaldson won a scrappy decider 60-16.

World Champion and currently number One ranked Mark Selby earned a last 16 tie with Barry Hawkins by beating Dominic Dale 4-2.

After sharing the first two frames, Selby made a superb 67 clearance to take the third, before Dale leveled with a run of 72. A run of 66 helped world number one Selby regain the lead and he clinched victory in a 49-minute sixth frame after getting the better of a safety battle on the brown.