Home favourite Mark Allen safely through

Defending champion and home favourite Mark Allen coasted past Chen Zifan into the third round of the Northern Ireland Open.

Allen delighted the crowd at Belfast's Waterfront Hall as he opened up with a break of 102 on his way to a confident 4-0 win, which saw him finish with runs of 85, 92 and 50.

Next for Allen will be Hong Kong's Andy Lee, who edged out Dylan Emery 4-3, while former world champion Neil Robertson had earlier defeated Fan Zhengyi 4-2 to take his place in the last 32.

Earlier, John Higgins beat Ireland's Fergal O'Brien 4-2 in a first-round match, but Jack Lisowski is out after losing by the same scoreline to Li Hang.

'If you said the next two years would be like the last two; I've no interest in that' Fergal O'Brien is thinking about his next step after his exit from the Northern Ireland Open today @PeterBranigan @WeAreWST #Snooker Full interview: https://t.co/DpVdzuwGvq pic.twitter.com/K8tXHSNPao

Mark Selby made three half-century breaks as he recorded his own 4-2 win over Sam Craigie, and Scotland's Stephen Maguire needed a final-frame decider as he came from 2-0 down to see off Zak Surety.

In Monday's late evening matches, Mark Williams made a 139 clearance in the second frame as he defeated Swiss player Alexander Ursenbacher 4-2. The veteran Welshman will go on to meet Jimmy Robertson, who chalked up two half-century breaks in his 4-1 win over Andy Hicks.