• O’Sullivan beats 54-year-old 4-1 in Northern Ireland Open • John Higgins hits 147 break to book his place in third round

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Ronnie O’Sullivan came through a rare showdown with Jimmy White to book his place in the third round of the Northern Ireland Open.

White, who has slipped to 108 in the world rankings, was facing O’Sullivan in the final stages of a ranking event for the first time in six years.

The 54-year-old hinted at an upset by taking a scrappy opening frame before O’Sullivan hit back with a 141 clearance to level the scores.

With both players struggling to find top form O’Sullivan added two more frames before wrapping up a 4-1 victory with a break of 95.

John Higgins scored the eighth 147 break of his career as he also booked a place in round three in Belfast. The 41-year-old achieved the feat in the final frame of his 4-1 win over Sam Craigie, setting up the maximum with a brilliant cross-double on the final red.

Higgins is looking to claim his third consecutive ranking event title after wins at the China Championship and last week’s Champion of Champions tournament in Coventry.

He is the fifth player to hit a 147 on the tour this year after Thepchaiya Un-nooh, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy and Alfie Burden.

Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins were among the other winners on Wednesday, but the world semi-finalist Alan McManus was beaten 4-0 by the world No93, Sanderson Lam.