Ronnie O’Sullivan battled his way into the second round of the Players Championship with a 6-4 win over Barry Hawkins at the Guild Hall.
The defending champion was in fine form early on and motored his way to a 3-0 lead.
World number ten Hawkins hit back with a break of 106 in the fourth frame, before ‘the Rocket’ took the fifth frame to head into the interval 4-1 in front.
Despite a spirited Hawkins fightback in the second session, O’Sullivan capitalised on a foul in the last frame to take the game 6-4.
Five time world champion O’Sullivan hit his only century break of the match in the first frame, moving his career total to 995.
He has potentially three more games of this tournament to reach the landmark of 1000 tons.
Failing that, he could become the first player ever to reach the feat at the Tour Championship in Llandudno later this month.
The tournament, which features the top eight ranked players, uses a one year ranking list to determine who qualifies.
O’Sullivan is all but qualified for the event, sitting in fifth place in the list.
Hawkins is in 13th and ideally needed a Players’ Championship victory.
His last chance to gain ranking points comes at the Gibraltar Open next week.
Hawkins played some excellent snooker in patches last night, coming from 4-1 down to just one frame behind at 5-4 with a couple of good breaks.
He hit his second century break in the ninth frame but ultimately couldn’t complete the fightback, O’Sullivan taking the final frame with a break of 64.
And ‘the Rocket’ was in good form in the post-match press conference as well, doing most of his interview in an Australian accent.
Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire’s Dan Jewell, O’Sullivan said: “I’m over the moon mate, really over the moon.
“I played well, Barry was good, we were both good and I’m pleased to be in the next round on Friday.
“Every day’s a great day, tomorrow’s going to be a great day. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they’re all going to be great days.
“I come back in Friday, got to do a bit of graft but on the whole everything’s great.
“The Guild Hall’s a great venue, one of the better on the circuit so it’s great to still be in and get another chance to sample this fantastic venue.”
On the Australian accent, O’Sullivan said: “I’m dipping into a bit of Cockney, a bit of Australian, a bit of Scouse, it’s all good.
“I should’ve been an impersonator. They should give me a bell and I’ll give it a go.
“I just feel totally positive. The Aussies are just winners, you’ve got to love a winner. Us English, we love a loser, so I thought I’m fed up of being a loser, I’m going to try and talk like a winner, like the Aussies. Get the Ashes won mate.”
O’Sullivan will face the winner of tonight’s clash between Mark Selby and John Higgins in the quarter final.
In the other game of the night, number one seed Mark Allen beat Stephen Maguire 6-2.
Northern Irishman Allen went 5-0 up before Maguire threatened a comeback, Allen seeing off the final frame comfortably.
He goes on to face either David Gilbert or Stuart Bingham in the last eight.
RS Sport 