Defending champion Mark Williams booked his place in the second round of the German Masters after overcoming a battling Zhou Yuelong by five frames to three.

Williams, who won the World Open for the fourth time earlier in the 2018/19 season, has struggled for his best form over the past few months and he was put through the ringer in the first round by Yuelong.

The Welshman, who is 17.00 to defend his World Championship crown this year, looked to be on course for a routine win when moving 3-1 ahead but his Chinese opponent made breaks of 52 and 85 to reduce the deficit to just one frame.

However, the 43-year-old showed his class in the eighth stanza with a break of 76 to set up a second-round encounter with Englishman Joe Perry after he edged past Sam Baird 5-4.

Number one seed Williams leads Perry 12-11 in the head-to-head record with the Welsh Wonder winning the previous meeting 5-1 at the 2018 World Open.

A tighter match is expected this time around and the defending champion is the 1.60 favourite to advance into the quarter finals, while Perry, who is a huge 101.00 to win the 2019 World Championships, is a 2.30 chance to progress.

Elsewhere, experienced campaigner Peter Ebdon will take on fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson in the second round after their respective wins over Shaun Murphy and Rory McLeod.

Englishman Robert Milkins managed to edge out compatriot and fifth seed Barry Hawkins 5-4 to set up a clash with Scotland’s Stephen Maguire, who ousted Cypriot Michael Georgiou 5-1.