O'Sullivan advances to quarter-finals in Sheffield

Ronnie O'Sullivan roared back to top form with three centuries in seven frames as he knocked Mark Williams out of the Betfred.com World Championship.

The 34-year-old had been unconvincing in terms of performance and attitude during his opening clash with Liang Wenbo, and also seemed to be lacking focus for parts of the opening two sessions against Williams.

But it was a different story this afternoon, as the crowd was treated to a vintage O'Sullivan show.

O'Sullivan fired in breaks of 53, 104, 75, 111 and 106 to win 13-10 and book a last-eight meeting with Mark Selby or Stephen Hendry and extend his perfect Crucible record against Williams to three wins from three meetings.

The last time they met was in the second round two years ago, when O'Sullivan won with a greater comfort margin, 13-7.

They could not be separated in the opening two sessions of this match, finishing 4-4 and 8-8, but the challenge of what was effectively a nine-frame shoot-out against a player he greatly admires brought the best out of O'Sullivan.

He made a sharp start, aided by an error from Williams who went in-off into the centre pocket off the black. After a false start, O'Sullivan returned to fire in a break of 53 to take the frame.

Runs of 53 and 48 from Williams made it 9-9, but then came a golden half-hour from O'Sullivan.

Williams was first in with 22 in frame 19 but a missed black proved costly, with O'Sullivan constructing a breezy break of 104.

Three chances to get moving were passed up by Williams in the next frame, and 75 from O'Sullivan gave him what in the context of the session was a handsome 11-9 lead.

Williams returned re-energised after the mid-session interval and a break of 114 narrowed the gap.

But he twice played poor safety shots early in the next frame and O'Sullivan fired in a rapid break of 111.

Williams failed with six attempts to escape from a snooker to give O'Sullivan a healthy lead as he pushed for the finish line.

He left a chance when he finally hit the red and O'Sullivan needed no second invitation, rifling in a break of 106 and raising his arm to salute the crowd on his way out of the auditorium.