O'Sullivan cruises through in China Open

Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the last 32 of the China Open today with a routine first round win.

O’Sullivan blew away Chinese wildcard Liu Chuang at the Beijing University Gymnasium, pocketing two century breaks in a quickfire victory.

The two-time world champion took just one hour and 26 minutes to dispose of the local interest, adding further breaks of 47 and 49 to his tons.

And after his win the Chigewell star admitted: “I didn’t even know what he (Chuang) looked like!

“I didn’t know what to expect, so I didn’t even have a game plan.

“I’ve done enough to win – and I’m still in the tournament, so that’s all I can ask for.”

Chuang won the opening frame with a break of 46, but from there on it was one-way traffic as O’Sullivan booked a last-32 meeting with Tiptree’s Ali Carter.

Welshman Matthew Stevens wasted little time in securing his safe passage through to the next phase.

A former World Championship runner-up, Stevens compiled breaks of 108, 51, 68, 44 and 47 on the way to a 5-0 whitewash of Chinese wildcard Yu Delu.

“I didn’t know what to expect playing a Chinese player, but to be fair I played well today. I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said Stevens.

“I’d like to do well here and hopefully find a bit of form.”

Marco Fu held his nerve to send world number one Stephen Hendry crashing out.

The Hong Kong potter clinched a dramatic 5-4 victory after Hendry had hit back from 3-1 down to lead 4-3, compiling breaks of 108, 53, 54 and 58 to move within one frame of victory.

But Fu, a semi-finalist at last season’s 888.com World Championship, remained unfazed and a cool 72 run in the eighth frame levelled the match. He then closed out with a 63 break in the decider.

World Champion Graeme Dott eased to a 5-2 win over Thailand’s James Wattana, while last season’s Masters and Grand Prix champion John Higgins won by the same scoreline against Preston’s Ian McCulloch.