O’Sullivan Shines In Shanghai

Ronnie O'Sullivan knocked in two centuries in an emphatic 5-1 defeat of James Wattana at the Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.

The Rocket hasn't won a full ranking event since he beat Liang Wenbo in the final here two years ago, but he has shown signs of his best form in recent weeks and his awesome scoring power was in full evidence against Thai veteran Wattana.

Breaks of 76 and 111 put O'Sullivan 2-0 up, and though Wattana won the next, the Essex player cruised to victory with further runs of 53, 110 and 97 to book a last 16 meeting with Anthony Hamilton.

“I had to be on my toes because James is a very good player," said three-times World Champion O'Sullivan. "It's nice to go into an arena where there are so many fans wanting to watch you play and I was pleased to be able to entertain. I know they want me to make a 147 and I'll be doing my best to get one here.

"It would be great to win this title again but all the best players are here so it will be difficult. If I can stop missing silly balls I'll have a chance, but it's too early to predict how far I can get."

Hamilton, a former practice partner of O'Sullivan, finished superbly to beat Stephen Maguire 5-4, making centuries in each of the last two frames.

In the day's most dramatic match, Shaun Murphy came from 4-1 down to beat Dominic Dale 5-4. Welshman Dale missed an easy final brown when set for a 5-3 victory, allowing Murphy to level at 4-4 then win a tense decider.

“At 4-1 down it would have been easy to give up and stop trying, but this is a long way to come and I had to give it 100 per cent. I've come here to try my best and to win,” said former World Champion Murphy.

Defending champion Ali Carter lost 5-4 to Mark King in another exciting finish, King winning frame eight on a respotted black before taking the decider. Carter summed up his performance as “terrible.”

Mark Selby boosted his chances of becoming the new World No 1 after this event by beating Nigel Bond 5-3. Selby, who won PTC4 in Germany nine days ago, was far from fluent but pulled away from 3-3 to win the last two frames.


Day two results (all last 32 matches)

Shaun Murphy 5-4 Dominic Dale
Ali Carter 4-5 Mark King
Mark Allen 5-2 Ryan Day
Peter Ebdon 3-5 Fergal O'Brien
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-1 James Wattana
Mark Selby 5-3 Nigel Bond
Stephen Maguire 4-5 Anthony Hamilton
Jamie Cope 5-3 Jack Lisowski

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