O'Sullivan brushes Ding aside in Sheffield
Ronnie O'Sullivan wasted little time taking the two frames he needed for a place in the 888.com World Championship second round this afternoon.
The 'Rocket' beat Chinese prodigy Ding Junhui 10-2 at Sheffield's famous Crucible Theatre, having led 8-1 overnight.
After powering into the last 16, the two-time winner claimed he was pleased with his first-round victory.
"It was a good match to get through," said the Chigwell potter. "It was a tough game, I'm pleased to have got through.
"I'm pleased with the way I executed. I scored OK, I played safety OK and potted OK.
"I was pleased with my game and I was able to deal what was thrown at me. I enjoyed the game.
"I was happy with my form in that game. I had to be on my game and I knew I'd have to make use of every opportunity which came my way.
"That's what I managed to do - and I was pleased I was able to do that."
With a seven-frame lead, O'Sullivan was never in danger of not progressing and although 20-year-old Ding won the opening frame of the concluding session with a 45 break, the world number three sunk breaks of 87 and 72 to secure an easy victory.
The only potential distraction for O'Sullivan came from press photographers who were taking pictures while this year's Masters champion was taking shots.
"It's unsettling," added O'Sullivan, who had other match breaks of 58, 50, 48, 109, 60, 63, 63, 70 and 45.
"All I could hear was click, click, click when I was down on a shot. I don't mind them taking photos, but I need to finish my shot first.
"In the end, I was just waiting for the click - they seemed hell-bent on getting their photo. It was potentially off-putting, but [referee] Jan [Verhaas] was good enough to tell them to be quiet."
Ding had breaks of 103 and 45 in the opening session and then his 45-run in the concluding session of the match.
But the three-time ranking event winner, who lost 10-3 to O'Sullivan in the Masters final in January, admitted he struggled to find his best form.
"Ronnie's a very good player, but the Masters defeat didn't affect me," reflected Ding, speaking through the aid of a translator.
"Ronnie played very well and didn't give me many chances. I never thought about anything other than trying best even though I was 8-1 down.
"I'm still young, so I've got lots of chances to win here."
