Ronnie O'Sullivan impresses in Players Championship


Ronnie O'Sullivan eased through the opening round of the Ladbrokes Players Championship with a 5-1 win over Liang Wenbo in Llandudno.

The five-time world champion never looked back from an opening break of 72, going into the interval 3-1 up after a run of 118 and quickly finishing off his opponent on resumption with breaks of 101 and 71.

 The five-times world champion will meet Judd Trump or Mark King in the quarter-finals at Venue Cymru.

 "It's a nice event, but I've got to get out of Llandudno for a few days.  It's a bit windy, there's not much to do around here," said O'Sullivan on ITV4.     

It was a similar story for Anthony Hamilton, who knocked out fourth seed Stuart Bingham.

Hamilton, recent winner of the German Masters, reeled off a 131-break first up on his way to a 5-1 victory.

Further breaks of  105 and 59 to secure a meeting in the last eight with Ding Junhui or John Higgins.         

The 16-man tournament, with a £125,000 first prize, is the penultimate event before the seeding cut-off falls for the World Championship.