O'Sullivan eases through

Ronnie O’Sullivan was focus personified today, both during and after his 10-4 victory over Dave Harold in the 888.com World Championship at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.

‘The Rocket’, who has never shied away from controversy throughout his career, was involved in no histrionics as he added breaks of 100 and 88 to the 139 and 106 he compiled yesterday.

“It’s nice to get the first round out of the way,” said the 30-year-old from Essex, who recorded his first success since losing the Masters final to John Higgins in January.

“I got out of the blocks early, got into my stride and put some pressure on Dave. It’s nice to be involved in the tournament.

“I feel like I’m enjoying playing snooker at the moment and hopefully I can have a good run here. I’m pleased with my performance and all I can do now is concentrate on my own game.”

There is no doubt the world number one was helped to settle by the 106 break he made in the first frame, which was initiated by what Harold described as an “outrageous fluke”.

“That was a killer for me,” said the 39-year-old from Stoke. “Ronnie is hard enough to play at any time but when he gets the run as well...

“He kept getting little flicks that helped him and all I could do was sit there and laugh. But he won fair and square.

“He’s definitely one of the favourites for the title but I think he will have to up his game a bit. Perhaps he came here with a bit of trepidation after losing a couple of first-round matches.”

On the other side of the partition, 2002 champion Peter Ebdon made the perfect start to his campaign by opening a 4-0 lead over Michael Holt.