Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins were both winners at the Thailand Masters in Bangkok tonight - but there was major disappointment for the locals as James Wattana found it impossible to recapture former glories. Higgins compiled a tournament record 145 total clearance on the way to an ultimately dramatic 5-4 victory over Joe Swail as he became the first player into the quarter-finals of the £476,000 world ranking event.
But the focus of attention was on Wattana, who could not contain O'Sullivan - even though the world champion engaged nothing higher than first gear in winning 5-2. Apart from the closing frame, when he put together a run of 94, O'Sullivan did not fire but he always looked the likely winner as Wattana, down to 39th in the provisional rankings, was again chronically short of both confidence and scoring power.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
