World Grand Prix: Mark Allen beats Gary Wilson 4-2 in first round

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen beat England's Gary Wilson 4-2 in the first round of the World Grand Prix on Monday to reach the last 16 in Cheltenham.

An 85 break in frame two put Allen 2-0 up and although Wilson took two of the next three frames a break of 78 in the sixth frame saw Allen progress.

Number one seed Allen will play the winner of Tuesday's match between Ali Carter or Martin O'Donnell on Thursday.

Allen has never been beyond round two in the three-year history of the event.

"I lost my focus and lost my way a bit after a good start but I'm just glad to get over the line," Allen told ITV Sport after his match.

The 32-year-old sat out last week's German Masters tournament after losing to Luca Brecel in the first round of the Masters at Wembley in January.

This week's event at The Centaur features the top 32 players on the 2018-19 1 Year List.

Allen is the top seed primarily thanks to points gained through winning the International Championship in China in November and the Scottish Open in December, plus reaching the final of the UK Championship.

Wilson, 33, from Wallsend, North Tyneside, is world ranked 34, 28 places below his Antrim opponent.

In Monday night's other first round matches Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out 4-2 to Marco Fu, Barry Hawkins beat Ryan Day 4-1 and Stuart Bingham overcame Zhao Xintong 4-1.