Mark Allen advances as Fergal O'Brien and Leo Fernandes bow out

Four breaks in the 70s were enough to see Mark Allen book his place in the last 64 of the Gibraltar Open on Thursday.

The Antrim man compiled runs of 74, 76 and back-to-back 77s to see off Mark Joyce on a 4-2 scoreline. Next up for Allen is a meeting with Steven Hallworth, who received a walkover in his first-round match.

Elsewhere, Fergal O'Brien and Leo Fernandez both lost final-frame deciders as they exited the tournmanet.

O'Brien, who is currently fighting for tour survival in 60th position on the one-year ranking list, led Mitchell Mann 1-0 and 2-1, before battling back at 3-3. But Mann then found his form, knocking in a 104 break to progress.

Fernandez pushed world number 26 Joe Perry all the way before his defeat.

Gerard Greene was beaten 4-1 by former world champion Stuart Bingham, who finished off the match in style with a maximum 147 break, just the second in the history of the tournament.

Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out in the opening round, suffering a 4-3 loss to Ben Woollaston.

Yesterday, Jordan Brown progressed to the last 16, while Aaron Hill (last 32) and Ken Doherty (last 64) missed out.