UK Championship snooker: Ronnie O'Sullivan admits he'd like to appear in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here
UK Championship favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan breezed into round three before admitting he'd one day like to do I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.
The five-time champion, who is bidding to become the joint most successful player in the tournament's history alongside Steve Davis, was cut for glory by Sky Bet last night when Mark Selby's title defence was ended and he avoided any scare himself with an easy win on Sunday afternoon.
O'Sullivan ran in breaks of 57, 68, 69 and a closing 82 as he set up a clash with our 250/1 pre-tournament tip Michael White, who later made breaks of 142 and 103 in a 6-1 triumph over Matthew Selt.
Afterwards the Rocket was asked if he'd like to appear in the hit ITV reality show and he told www.worldsnooker.com: "Definitely. I was watching the jungle and thought ‘wow, I need to have a go at that.’ You get a chance to go to Australia, get the family out there for a nice little holiday. I am coming round to the idea of it if the price is right. Count me in.
"Amir Khan has been fantastic in the jungle. I love him, and Dennis Wise has been great too. I get approached all the time to do these shows."
There was agony for Mark King, who missed the pink when just two pots away from a 147.
The Englishman's break came in the third frame of his 6-4 win over Mike Dunn as he took 15 reds with blacks and looked set to clear the colours for the maximum.
But he misjudged position from blue to pink and left himself a thin cut to a centre pocket. His attempt hit the near jaw of the pocket, the white finishing in prime position on the final black.
A maximum for the world number 21 would have been the first of his career and potentially worth £15,000 from the rolling prize pot for 147s, plus the £5,000 tournament high break prize.
Chinese prodigy Yan Bingtao continued to show why he's one to watch in York as he thrashed Ben Woollaston, making a best break of 134 along the way.
The 17-year-old narrowly missed out on becoming the youngest ever player to win a ranking title - a record held by O'Sullivan - when he lost 9-8 to Mark Williams in the Northern Ireland Open final last Sunday but on this evidence he'll be challenging for top honours next weekend.
Shaun Murphy almost followed Selby and Ding Junhui out of the exit door but scraped a dramatic 6-5 victory over Liam Highfield.
The 2008 champion made breaks of 50, 96 and 80 to go 4-2 ahead but world number 69 Highfield then won three in a row to move to within one frame of victory.
The Stoke cueman had chances to seal victory in frame 10 but couldn’t take them as Murphy forced a decider, which he edged in 37 minutes.
Ding was incredibly knocked out last week despite leading 5-0 against world number 130 Leo Fernandez, who hit 100/1 in-play that night, but his conqueror is now out after a 6-0 hammering at the hands of Noppon Saengkham.
John Higgins came through a hard-fought clash against Cao Yupeng to win through 6-4 although his highest break was only 59.
Luca Brecel made breaks of 107 and 114 in the last two frames of a 6-3 win over Aditya Mehta. Jimmy Robertson came from 5-3 down to beat Alan McManus 6-5, winning the deciding frame by clearing from yellow to pink.
Ricky Walden came from 4-2 and 5-4 down to edge out Jamie Jones 6-5, Kyren Wilson saw off Yu Delu 6-4 while Michael Holt was beaten 6-5 by Akani Songsermsawad.
Barry Hawkins looked in good form as he won 6-2 against Hammad Miah while Martin Gould beat Robbie Williams by the same scoreline, with Xiao Guodong going one frame better against Tom Ford.
Sunday results & Monday schedule
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SUNDAY DECEMBER 3
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Second Round (Best of 11 frames)
- Shaun Murphy 6-5 Liam Highfield
- Alan McManus 5-6 Jimmy Robertson
- Kyren Wilson 6-4 Yu De Lu
- Ricky Walden 6-5 Jamie Jones
- Mike Dunn 4-6 Mark King
- Aditya Mehta 3-6 Luca Brecel
- Yan Bingtao 6-1 Ben Woollaston
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-1 Michael Georgiou
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Second Round (Best of 11 frames)
TV Coverage: BBC/Eurosport
- Cao Yupeng 4-6 John Higgins
- Michael White 6-1 Matthew Selt
- Barry Hawkins 6-2 Hammad Miah
- Michael Holt 4-6 Akani Songsermsawad
- Robbie Williams 2-6 Martin Gould
- Hossein Vafaei v Anthony McGill
- Xiao Guodong 6-1 Tom Ford
- Noppon Saengkham 6-0 Leo Fernandez
MONDAY DECEMBER 4
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Third Round (Best of 11 frames)
TV Coverage: BBC/Eurosport
- Mark Williams v Ryan Day
- Lyu Haotian v Marco Fu
- Judd Trump v Graeme Dott
- Liang Wenbo v Stephen Maguire
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Third Round (Best of 11 frames)
TV Coverage: BBC/Eurosport
- Scott Donaldson v Li Hang
- Mark Joyce v Neil Robertson
- Joe Perry v Kurt Maflin
- Peter Lines v Mark Allen
Click here for the full tournament schedule & results