Masters Snooker 2017 Results: Updated Draw and Schedule After Sunday's Scores

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan came within one shot of being eliminated from the 2017 Masters, but he managed to survive to beat Liang Wenbo by a single frame at London's Alexandra Palace on Sunday.

Liang had the chance to sink black and take the match in the 10th frame. His miss let O'Sullivan eventually scrape through before former champion Ding Junhui beat Kyren Wilson 6-3.

Here are the results from Sunday's matches:

Player	Score	Player
Ronnie O' Sullivan	6-5	Liang Wenbo
Ding Junhui	6-3	Kyren Wilson

Here's what the rest of the first-round draw looks like:

Date	Time	Match
Monday, January 16	1 p.m.	John Higgins vs. Mark Allen
Monday, January 16	7 p.m.	Stuart Bingham vs. Joe Perry
Tuesday, January 17	1 p.m.	Judd Trump vs. Marco Fu
Tuesday, January 17	7 p.m.	Neil Robertson vs. Allister Carter
Wednesday, January 18	1 p.m.	Mark Selby vs. Mark Williams
Wednesday, January 18	7 p.m.	Shaun Murphy vs. Barry Hawkins

For the potential quarter-final draw in full, visit BBC Sport.

Recap

O'Sullivan was put through his paces thanks to a superb performance from Liang. The latter got things going with the first century break of these Masters, according to BBC Snooker:

Yet for all his work, Liang found himself two frames down against a champion who looked increasingly confident. However, Liang played without fear and soon sank breaks of 48 and 39 to help even things up at two frames apiece.

It was at this point O'Sullivan appeared to assume control. He wasted little time moving 3-2 ahead before producing some dazzling shots to take control of the sixth frame. World Snooker relayed highlights:

O'Sullivan was 4-2 in front after downing 80 to pile the pressure on Liang. Once again, though, his game opponent refused to buckle in the face of his onslaught.  

He was soon level after some excellent scoring under pressure:

It became 5-4 in Liang's favour as the pressure mounted on O'Sullivan. Liang was making the shots that mattered, including this smooth effort to drop the pink:

His momentum was slowed, though, when he ran into trouble after dropping the blue into the middle. Unfortunately, the white rolled back to the cushion next to the black.

Liang had left little on, but instead of playing for safety, he attempted a tough pot into the middle, one he missed. O'Sullivan took his chance to sink two reds either side of the blue before potting the pink. But he tried to play position when a third chance to sink the pink arose.

The mistake left Liang chasing 26 for the win. Inexplicably, he missed on black with O'Sullivan poised to leave the tournament:

The champion didn't waste his reprieve and sank the black to finally force a decider. He took out a 121 break to escape a shaky performance with passage to the next round.  

Later in the day, Ding had to survive a furious comeback from Wilson after building a 3-1 lead. Ding was in superb form early on, coming within one ball of a stunning maximum.

BBC Snooker detailed where his bid for 147 ended:

Even so, Ding was firmly in command at the interval, with BBC Snooker noting how he'd compiled a 93 percent success rate on pot:

He was soon 4-2 ahead before a desperate Wilson made his move to hang on. A break of 106 proved crucial in winning the seventh frame, a frame during which Wilson produced some fine shots.

World Snooker showed one terrific stroke to deftly sink the green:

However, another half century from Ding helped move him to the brink of victory. Wilson was unlucky when he dropped the white after potting the yellow from distance, allowing Ding to clear up for the match.

Ding has won the Masters before and showed form proving he's capable of doing it again. O'Sullivan will remain the player to watch, though, even if he has a lot of room for improvement after Day 1.