RONNIE O’SULLIVAN rallied from the brink with a brilliant finish as he staved off a first-round elimination from the Shanghai Masters by edging Liang Wenbo 5-4 at Shanghai Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, Stephen Maguire made the third 147 of his career during his opening match against wildcard Xu Yichen. It’s his second maximum in China as he also made one at the 2008 China Open.

    It’s the 120th maximum in snooker history and second of the season after Thepchaiya Un-Nooh’s 147 at the recent Paul Hunter Classic.

    It is O’Sullivan’s first ranking tournament of the new season. Not in his best form, the Englishman lost the first frame after missing the last red. He got one back before allowing Liang to take the next three frames for a 4-1 lead.

    “It was a tough first round,” O’Sullivan conceded. “I’m not sure when was the turning point. Liang didn’t manage to retain his form later in the game. Otherwise he might have won it.”

    Liang overcame compatriot Hu Hao 5-3 in the earlier wildcard round to set up the clash. Their last duel was in the final of the 2009 Shanghai Masters, when, too, O’Sullivan won, 10-5.

    In other first-round matches, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen trashed Scot Anthony McGill 5-0; Welshman Ryan Day beat Chinese wildcard Ma Bing 5-1.

    (SD-Agencies)