Aaron Hill battles into the second round at the World Open

Aaron Hill is into the last 32 at the World Open in Yushan after battling to a 5-3 victory over Sunny Akani this morning.

It's been an up and down season for the Cork man, exemplified recently by reaching the quarter-finals at the German Masters in Berlin, before failing to qualify for the Welsh Open the following week.

But the 22-year-old came good when he needed to in China this morning, and was never behind in the match.

The players shared the first six frames, before a break of 99 pushed Hill to the brink of victory, which he achieved after a scrappy eighth frame.

Next up for the Irishman is a meeting with Jimmy Robertson, who he beat in Berlin.

Antrim's Mark Allen will be in first round action overnight against David Lilley, while Jordan Brown is up against Zak Surety.