Ali Carter defeats Mark Williams in Northern Ireland Open last 64

Defending Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Williams has been defeated at the last 64 stage in Belfast after Ali Carter came from 3-1 down to defeat Williams 4-3. 

Carter is the 17th seed so the pair can count themselves unlucky to be meeting in the second round of a tournament but it seemed as though things would go the way of the World champion until he missed a simple enough red when he was in to win the match 4-1. Carter went on to win that frame and Williams never recovered as his poor form continued to end his defence early. Next up for the Welshman is the UK Championships in York. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan did make it through comfortably 4-1 against Mei Xiwen. That was despite O'Sullivan looking quite erratic in parts and not looking at his best. Mei failed to take advantage though and let O'Sullivan off the hook on far too many occasions to have any chance of winning matches against players at that level. 

World number one Mark Selby though was flawless in his defeat of Jimmy Robertson in the second round. The European Masters champion Robertson actually ended the 4-0 defeat with a pot success of 100% having not actually missed a ball, but also hardly being given a chance by Selby's exceptional play that saw him close the match with a pot success of 98%. Selby would compile breaks of 128, 127 and 90 in the final frames to make a big statement, especially given the amount of top players that have exited the tournament early on. 

Neil Robertson was just about able to avoid an early exit for the second night running. Having come from 3-1 down to defeat Ben Woollaston in the last 128, this time he had to turn things around from 3-0 down to defeat Norway's Kurt Maflin in a final frame decider, making his one chance in the decider count with a break of 125 to complete a magnificent comeback. 

Ryan Day also turned things around, coming from 3-1 down to defeat Zhang Anda 4-3 in a high scoring encounter. Zhang had made breaks of 64, 93 and 100 to go 3-1 up before back-to-back tons of 140 and 126 from Day forced the decider, which he would then win with a run of 70. 

Judd Trump was on high scoring form as he whitewashed Stuart Carrington in less than an hour, opening up with a 137 before further breaks of 51, 53, 55 and a closing 69. Luca Brecel was also a 4-0 winner in his match against Ian Burns, while Jack Lisowski held on to beat Liam Highfield 4-3 having previously led 3-1 and missing match ball to win the match a frame earlier. 

2016 Northern Ireland Open champion Mark King is out though as Michael Holt came from 2-0 behind to defeat King in a final frame decider, while the last remaining Northern Irish player is Joe Swail who booked his place in the last 64 with victory over Nigel Bond while Gerard Greene lost to Matthew Stevens. 

Last 64 results:

Ali Carter 4-3 Mark Williams
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Akani Songsermsawad
Joe Swail 4-2 Nigel Bond
Eden Sharav 4-2 Michael White
Li Hang 4-2 Sam Craigie
Neil Robertson 4-3 Kurt Maflin
Mark Davis 4-1 Luo Honghao
Peter Ebdon 4-3 Lee Walker
Judd Trump 4-0 Stuart Carrington
Jack Lisowski 4-3 Liam Highfield
Luca Brecel 4-0 Ian Burns
Gary Wilson 4-3 Daniel Wells
Ryan Day 4-3 Zhang Anda
Robin Hull 4-1 Tian Pengfei
Andrew Higginson 4-3 Yuan Sijun
Billy Castle 4-1 Rory McLeod
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Mei Xiwen
Tom Ford 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Michael Holt 4-3 Mark King
Zhou Yuelong 4-0 Kishan Hirani
Lu Ning 4-1 Alan McManus
Hammad Miah 4-0 Niu Zhuang
Matthew Stevens 4-1 Gerard Greene
David Gilbert 4-2 Chen Zifan
Chris Totten 4-3 Sam Baird
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-0 Ross Muir
Robbie Williams 4-2 Peter Lines
Sanderson Lam 4-3 Sean O'Sullivan
Scott Donaldson 4-2 David Lilley
Martin O'Donnell 4-1 Chen Feilong
Hamza Akbar 4-3 Alexander Ursenbacher
Mark Selby 4-0 Jimmy Robertson

Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold)

Ali Carter Vs Xiao Guodong
Eden Sharav Vs Joe Swail
Neil Robertson Vs Li Hang
Mark Davis Vs Peter Ebdon
Judd Trump Vs Jack Lisowski 
Luca Brecel Vs Gary Wilson
Ryan Day Vs Robin Hull
Andrew Higginson Vs Billy Castle
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Tom Ford
Zhou Yuelong Vs Michael Holt
Hammad Miah Vs Lu Ning
David Gilbert Vs Matthew Stevens
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Chris Totten
Robbie Williams Vs Sanderson Lam
Scott Donaldson Vs Martin O'Donnell
Mark Selby Vs Hamza Akbar

The big name exits have not left us short of intriguing matches in the draw. The first that jumps out is that of comeback king Neil Robertson against Li Hang. Robertson has started slowly this week, falling 3-1 behind to Ben Woollaston and 3-0 down to Kurt Maflin before coming through, but you have to believe his luck will eventually run out if he keeps leaving himself that much to do in matches. Li was 2-0 down in the last 64 to Sam Craigie before a barrage of breaks saw him come through 4-2, making the new high break of the week - a 145 - in the process. Given his two great comebacks though I expect Robertson to now kick on and have a big run again this week having just made the International Championship final. 

For the third event in a row, Jack Lisowski will face off with Judd Trump. These two being as friendly as they are cannot be enjoying the fact that they keep having to play each other, but that is the way the draw has kept panning out. In the last 32 at the English Open, Trump turned around a poor start to come through, but he could not do the same at the International Championship where Lisowski ultimately won comfortably. I believe that Lisowski is going to win a ranking title sooner rather than later and if he can beat Trump in this one, the possibility of this being his week to do so becomes very realistic. Lisowski has looked a bit more loose in the first couple of rounds than Trump, but form almost goes out of the window when these two come up against each other, because they know they have to raise their games. 

Ryan Day will meet Finland's Robin Hull at this stage of the Northern Ireland Open for the second year in succession. Aside from Hull's victory over Day on the way to his 2016 Snooker Shoot-Out victory, the pair have met twice, with Day winning in deciders while Hull could have won both matches quite easily. In the 2017 German Masters last 16, Hull was 3-0 up to Day before the Welshman won 5-4, while in this event 12 months ago the Finn took a 3-1 lead before Day again turned things around. Hull has had two nice wins this week and will know that he is more than capable of putting himself in position to beat Day, so perhaps at the third time of asking his luck will change and he will be able to avenge those two previous losses. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan's next opponent is Tom Ford. The recent Champion of Champions has had an easy ride this week so far but can expect a tougher challenge against Ford who has overcome Rod Lawler and Chris Wakelin in deciding frames so far this week. Realistically, if Ford does not get a frame on the board early then he will be blown away without a trace, but if he stands up to the pressure of playing O'Sullivan everyone knows that he is capable of pulling off the upset, especially if O'Sullivan's form is as erratic as it was at times against Mei Xiwen. 

Michael Holt will be looking for his third victory of the week against someone seeded higher than him in the draw when he faces Zhou Yuelong. Holt was a 4-2 winner on day one against Stephen Maguire before coming from 2-0 down to defeat Mark King and those results will increase his confidence which has probably suffered a little in recent times. Zhou has had two fairly easy matches by comparison against Lukas Kleckers and Kishan Hirani, and while his record against Holt is strong, the Chinese youngster is going to need to be close to his best which he has not been much of late. 

David Gilbert takes on Matthew Stevens in another very interesting game. Both of these players are outside of the top 16 but are capable of being at that level and have had success out in China this season. Gilbert was of course a finalist at the World Open and is only just outside of the top 16, a mark he could climb a lot closer to this week given how the draw has opened up. Stevens meanwhile looks to have his form and confidence back after making it to the International Championship semi-finals and looking like his old self. Already this week both players have had tough ties, Gilbert beating Fergal O'Brien in round one while Stevens saw off Ricky Walden 4-3 at the same stage. This match could be just as close and it is tough to give either player the edge. 

Mark Selby meanwhile will be a massive favourite after his sublime performance against Jimmy Robertson. He looks to be cueing like a dream, having also beaten Anthony Hamilton 4-1 this week so far and was only denied by Neil Robertson in the last two tournaments, making a 147 against him in the most recent at the Champion of Champions. His third round opponent here is Pakistan's Hamza Akbar who has had two nice victories against Ashley Hugill and Alexander Ursenbacher. Life on tour has been incredibly tough for Akbar with his continuous visa problems, while the opportunities this has taken away have left him low on funds at times so no-one can begrudge him of the £3,500 that he is already guaranteed this week and the chance to play the world number 1 on the main TV table. This is only his second appearance in the last 32 of a ranking event, matching his effort in this year's Shoot-Out. Realistically, his chances against Selby are very slim but in sport these underdog stories are always possible. 

All of the last 32 matches will be played over the morning and afternoon sessions on Thursday in Belfast, over the best-of-7 frames, while the last 16 ties will follow on Thursday evening and once again these will be over the best-of-7 frame format which a selection of matches on Eurosport TV and the Eurosport Player throughout the day.