O'Sullivan Eases Into Round Two

Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised into the second round of the 888.com World Championship with an easy 10-4 win over Dave Harold.

After being 7-2 up at the end of Tuesday's play, O'Sullivan made swift work of finishing off the match, ending the final frame on a break of 88 to add to the three tons he had already piled up.

Harold admitted he had been beaten by the better player, but mentioned the fistful of flukes that had set the 2004 champion on his way to his first victory since January.

"He kept getting little flicks that helped him and all I could do was sit there and laugh, but he won fair and square," said Harold.

Elsewhere, eighth seed Peter Ebdon is leading Michael Holt 5-4, and seven times world champion Stephen Hendry has fought his way back into contention against Nigel Bond.

Having been 6-3 down overnight and then 7-3 down after the first frame of the morning, the Scot has closed the gap to 7-6 at the mid-session break.

Joe Perry and Ryan Day begin their match at 7pm this evening