Ronnie O’Sullivan impressive as he avenges He Guoqiang defeat to progress to third round of International Championship
Ronnie O’Sullivan looked in good form as he beat He Guoqiang at the International Championship in China. The Rocket is playing a tournament for the first time since losing to He at the English Open in September. He avenged that defeat with a 6-2 victory as he set up a meeting with Pang Junxu. Northern Ireland Open champion Kyren Wilson also advanced along with Joe Perry.
Ronnie O’Sullivan made seven half-century breaks in an impressive 6-2 win over He Guoqiang in the second round of the International Championship in Nanjing, China.
O’Sullivan is playing for the first time since an “awful” loss to He at the English Open on September 17 but showed little sign of rust as he avenged that defeat.
After dropping the first frame of the match, the Rocket responded with seven successive half-century breaks as he advanced into the third round.
O’Sullivan will next face Pang Junxu as he continues his bid for a first International Championship title.
Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams also advanced on Monday, along with Kyren Wilson, who won 6-3 against Lui Hongyu.
Northern Ireland champion Wilson sealed his eighth straight win with a 143 break, the highest break of the tournament so far. Barry Hawkins beat Joe Perry 6-2, and Si Jiahui won 6-3 against Ben Mertens.
Neil Robertson made four century breaks in a dominant 6-0 win over Fan Zhengyi and Mark Allen won 6-2 against Aaron Hill.
O’Sullivan didn’t score in the opening frame as He took it with a break of 57.
But O’Sullivan got going in frame two, with a break of 73 seeing him level the contest.
He got out in front in the third frame but missed a double to allow O’Sullivan to the table. The Rocket took advantage of the chance with a break of 87 to move ahead.
O’Sullivan made it three in a row with a smooth break of 87 to open up a 3-1 lead at the interval.
O’Sullivan continued to look in good form after the interval as he started a break with a fine shot-to-nothing pot. There was no let up from O’Sullivan as he won his fourth-straight frame to pull further clear.
It looked like one-way traffic as O’Sullivan fashioned a frame-winning chance in the sixth frame.
However, a missed blue into the middle gave He a much-needed opportunity, and he took it to close the gap to 4-2.
A repeat looked on the cards in the next frame as O’Sullivan missed a simple red into the corner to allow He to the table with the balls set favourably.
O’Sullivan banged the table in frustration at the miss but this time it didn’t cost him as He undercut a shot and the Rocket returned and cleared up.
The finish line was in sight for O’Sullivan as he moved 57-0 up in the eighth frame.
He had to play safe after not leaving a red when breaking into the pack but was soon back in the balls after potting a long red.
From there, O’Sullivan finished in style as he booked his place in the next round.