• UK Championship

O'Sullivan makes flying start to UK Championship

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the Champion of Champions event last Sunday © PA Photos

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Ronnie O'Sullivan stormed into the second round of the UK Championship after brushing aside 19-year-old Rhys Clark 6-0 at the Barbican Centre in York.

The four-time UK champion is in fine form having won the inaugural Champion of Champions event last Sunday, and a fortnight ago was a runner-up at the Antwerp Open final.

And as he bids to lift snooker's second high-profile tournament, the Rocket cruised against Clark to book his place in the last 64 of the event. O'Sullivan made top breaks of 82 and 71 in the first three frames and was hardly troubled by the youngster.

"You could see Rhys was nervous but my next match will be tougher so I won't take as many risks," O'Sullivan said after the match, who revealed he was trying to make a 147 maximum break throughout the encounter.

"From the second frame onwards my focus was on trying to make a 147. The school fees have been paid last week and I thought I'll get a bit of Christmas money,"

Defending champion Mark Selby faced a shock exit from the event when he trailed 15-year-old Shane Castle 3-1 at the midsession interval, but the 'Jester from Leicester' came back to win 6-4.

World No. 1 Neil Robertson meanwhile had no such problems in a 6-0 demolition of Dylan Mitchell.

Former champion Shaun Murphy avoided an upset after fighting back from 3-0 down to overcome Paul Davison 6-3, while Ding Junhui, the first player who has won the last three ranking titles, defeated Antony Parsons 6-3.

Ali Carter, Graeme Dott and Barry Hawkins all sealed their places in the third round of the event, but former champion Peter Ebdon was stunned 6-1 by David Morris.

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