Mark Williams made a superb clearance in the deciding frame to beat James Cahill 4-3 on the opening day of the Kaspersky Riga Masters.

Cahill registered a huge shock in April when he knocked Ronnie O’Sullivan out of the World Championship, and he also beat Mark Selby at the UK Championship last season.

He had the first chance in the decider today but could only make 37 and Williams punished him with a superb 94.

Three-time World Champion Williams goes through to play Luo Honghao in the last 32 of the first ranking event of the season. Earlier in the day, he beat Jordan Brown 4-1 with a top break of 137.

It is a diminished field in the Latvian capital as several players were forced to withdraw after their flight from Luton was cancelled on Thursday evening, with defending champion Neil Robertson among those who couldn’t make it to northeastern Europe (read more on that here).

Graeme Dott made the highest break of the day with a superb 143 as he beat Lee Walker 4-0. Dott now faces three-time World Champion Mark Selby.

Jak Jones scored breaks of 60, 72 and 59 as he beat Ali Carter 4-1, while China’s promising Yuan Sijun top-scored with 88 in a 4-1 defeat of Ricky Walden. Last year’s runner-up Jack Lisowski was another 4-1 winner, beating Rodion Judin with a top run of 119.

Germany’s top player Lukas Kleckers scored a 4-3 win over Zhang Anda, while Crucible semi-finalist Gary Wilson edged out Jackson Page 4-3.

Source: World Snooker