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O'Sullivan through first round at snooker worlds

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-20 09:21

LONDON - Ronnie O'Sullivan eased into the last 16 at the Snooker World Championships after beating Dominic Dale 10-2 in Sheffield on Tuesday.

The three-time world champion O'Sullivan took a lead of 7-2 after the first session of the opening round on Monday, then needed only 40 minutes to win three more frames on Tuesday.

"I enjoyed that as much as I did the first time I played at the Crucible," said O'Sullivan, who is going to meet Shaun Murphy on Saturday. "I didn't want it to end, I wanted to keep playing."

O'Sullivan has struggled with his form as the 35-year-old suffered first round exit from UK Championships, Wembley Masters Welsh Open and China Open since last December.

O'Sulliva thought his poor form was caused by his mentality and he has asked a psychologist to help him.

"This is the last throw of the dice. It doesn't mean I'm going to win the tournament and I've got nothing to prove, I just want to try to play for as long as I can," said the gifted cueman.

Stuart Bingham edged Peter Ebdon 10-8 to set up a duel with Chinese star Ding Junhui in the second round.

Marco Fu from Chinese Hong Kong leads Martin Gould 6-3 after the first session of the first round, looks positive to play England rising star Judd Trump in the last 16.