Snooker: Dodgy Cushion Rescues O'sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan admitted he had a suspect cushion to thank for his progress to the third round of the Maplin UK Championship after he won the last two frames to edge out Ricky Walden 9-8 at the Barbican Centre here yesterday.

Walden, who is ranked 33 places lower than O'Sullivan at 36th in the current standings, was within sight of the best victory of his career when leading 8-7 and 56-0. "Ricky played a good brown, hit it right, but I looked at the cue ball and it came off the cushion at three times the speed it should have done," O'Sullivan admitted.

"I knew he was out of position. I'm disappointed for him. I told him it was only a cushion that had cost him and that he deserved to win. It's one of the worst tables I've played on. A bad table got me through to the next round, which isn't the way you want to win."

A break of 125 was the highlight as O'Sullivan raced from 4-4 overnight to a 7-4 lead but Walden fought back superbly with breaks of 102, 93, 85 and 79 to go 8-7 ahead. His misfortune came on 52 in the next and O'Sullivan eventually cleared from the last red to black to steal it before finishing off in the following frame with a 108.

O'Sullivan, who turned 31 earlier this week, professed renewed personal contentment ahead of the tournament but admitted that it has not served to sharpen his hunger for more titles. "I'm happy with everything in my life and it doesn't hurt me if I lose," he said. "It's not a good thing really. I'm not proud of it but I feel like I'm in a no-lose situation."

Steve Davis, who reached his 10th UK Championship final last year, beat Jamie Burnett of Glasgow 9-5. Mark Williams, twice the UK champion, defeated Gerard Greene of Northern Ireland 9-7. Stephen Maguire, the winner two years ago, defeated Belfast's Joe Swail 9-8.