Ronnie O’Sullivan scored a dramatic 6-5 win on the first day of the Dafabet Masters, after his opponent Liang Wenbo missed match-ball black in the penultimate frame.

China’s Liang had a golden chance to score a surprise 6-4 win over the six-time Masters king. Needing to clear the colours, he got down to the final black which was a few inches above the top cushion. But he wobbled his attempted pot in the jaws of a top corner, leaving it for O’Sullivan to make it 5-5. Handed a lifeline, O’Sullivan went on to make a brilliant break of 121 in the deciding frame.

The Rocket, who beat Barry Hawkins 10-1 in the final last year to equal Stephen Hendry’s record of six Masters crowns, goes through to face Neil Robertson or Ali Carter in the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace on Thursday.

Chigwell’s 41-year-old O’Sullivan is chasing his first title since the Welsh Open 11 months ago, though he has reached three finals this season. With the majority of a 2,000 capacity crowd behind him in London, he is always a formidable force at snooker’s biggest invitation event.

O’Sullivan won the opening frame thanks to an excellent long pot on the last red, and he took the second as well courtesy of an equally good pot on the penultimate red with the rest. Liang, who won his first ranking title at October’s English Open, fought back to 2-2 with runs of 109 and 48.

After the interval, O’Sullivan responded with 89 and 80 to lead 4-2. A high quality contest saw Liang hit again back with 65 and 83 for 4-4. O’Sullivan led 39-0 in frame nine before he missed a black off its spot, and Liang’s runs of 50 and 33 saw him take the lead for the first time.

And the Chinese cueman had his opportunity for glory in frame ten after O’Sullivan had missed the pink off the last red when 26 points ahead. But Liang’s miss on the black proved the crucial moment and he spent most of the final frame in his seat.

Ding Junhui won his first match in the Dafabet Masters since 2011 by beating Kyren Wilson 6-3 in the first round on Sunday night.

China’s Ding won this event in 2011, the last time it was staged at Wembley Arena, then endured five consecutive first round defeats after it was moved across North London. But he ended his Alexandra Palace hoodoo with an impressive display against Masters Debutant Wilson to book a quarter-final clash with Stuart Bingham or Joe Perry on Friday evening.

World number six Ding is seeking his third title of the season having won the Six Red World Championship and Shanghai Masters in September.

Victory capped off an eventful day for Ding as, earlier, he did a live television interview for CCTV5 having been one of six nominees for China’s equivalent of Sports Personality of the Year, though he missed out on the award 

The 29-year-old started the match strongly by surging into a 3-0 lead. In the second frame he was on target for a 147, which would have made him the first player to make two maximums at the Masters, with Kirk Stevens and Marco Fu the only others to hit the magic number at this tournament. But after potting 15 reds with blacks, Ding ran out of position on the yellow on 120 and missed a tough pot to a centre pocket.

Kettering’s Wilson gained a foothold in the match by clearing from the last red to pink to win frame four, and he took a scrappy 39-minute fifth after Ding went in-off playing safety on the green.  Ding regained the momentum as runs of 65 and 73 put him 5-2 ahead.

Wilson pulled one back with a 103 and he led 42-0 in frame nine. But Ding went ahead with a break of 50, then secured victory after Wilson had gone in-off when potting the yellow.