headline: English Open: Ronnie O'Sullivan survives scare to reach second round
text: Ronnie O'Sullivan survived a scare to reach the second round of the English Open with a 4-3 victory over Belgian teenager Ben Mertens in Brentwood.
  18-year-old overturned a three-frame deficit to force the holder and seven-time world champion into a first-round decider.
  O'Sullivan made a break of 63 to claim victory and will now face Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng.
  "He [Mertens] is a great cueist," O'Sullivan told Eurosport.
  "He hits the ball well, I like his game. The sky's the limit for him really.
  "I think he has a very good snooker brain, sees the shot, plays the shot. Great lad, and just plays the game nice."
  Elsewhere, world number two Judd Trump was also forced into a deciding frame before beating 21-year-old Jackson Page 4-3.
  Page could have claimed victory but missed his chance in the final frame.
  Four-time world champion Mark Selby earned a 4-3 victory against Noppon Saengkham, while current world champion Neil Robertson made breaks of 110, 122, 67 and 88 as he cruised past Andrew Pagett 4-0.
  Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, who was delayed in arriving at the tournament after his flight was cancelled because of the winter weather conditions, defeated Mitchell Mann 4-1.
  Earlier on Monday, 2021 Masters champion Yan Bingtao was suspended from the World Snooker Tour as part of an ongoing investigation into match-fixing.
  China's Yan, the world number 16, was due to play in Brentwood but his suspension has been imposed after allegations of manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes.