O’Sullivan chalked up three half-century breaks and a clearance of 121 in a near faultless display at the Marshall Arena.

Stuart Bingham also compiled the second maximum break in as many days in the sixth frame of his first-round win over Zak Surety.

Kyren Wilson had a break of 147 on Tuesday.

The Englishman follows in the footsteps of Judd Trump, who made a maximum en route to winning the Northern Ireland Open last week.

All of the results for players involved on tables three to six came back negative

John Higgins also wins on opening day at Milton Keynes.

Snooker’s second-biggest tournament UK Championship is the latest to take place in the behind-closed-doors bubble of the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

Their scheduled opponents Xu Si and Jak Jones advance to round two.

Trump has beaten O’Sullivan in the last two finals.

The world champion Sullivan defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in Milton Keynes.

The world number one and world champion both won in the Northern Ireland Open.

Defending champion Judd Trump hit his fifth career maximum break at the Northern...

The Belfast potter beat the top three players in the world on his way to sealing the title.

Milton Keynes will now host the event.

The 28-year-old defeated the world number one 3-1 in the Championship League final.

Trump has won the last 10 ranking finals he has played in.

Trump saw off John Higgins in his semi-final while Robertson edged past Mark Selby.

Heathcote, ranked 69 in the world, had threatened an upset in Milton Keynes. Judd Trump survives scare to beat Louis Heathcote in English Open

Lines’ son Oliver has also been forced to withdraw as a contact.

O’Sullivan was sporting pink nail varnish to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Irishman Doherty beat the seeded Robertson en route to progressing to stage two in Milton Keynes.

The Leicester cueman edged his opponent in a tight contest.

The 39-year-old Londoner reached a first ranking final since 2016.

The six-time world champion Sullivan was in action for the first time since he triumphed at the Crucible last month.

Daniel Wells and Gary Wilson have tested positive, with Elliot Slessor and David Lilley also pulling out after coming into contact with Wilson.

Hawkins finished top of Group Four on the second day at Stadium MK and Milkins won Group Three.

The Welshman Ryan Day hit 147 to seal a 3-1 victory against Rod Lawler.

The 51-year-old is coming out of retirement.

‘The Rocket’ has no interest in eating bugs as he looks to land more titles

John Higgins claimed the first maximum of his Crucible career