Ronnie O'Sullivan overcame an awful start to his match with Michael Georgiou as an unanswered blitz of 461 points saw him storm to a 4-1 win at the English Open in Milton Keynes.
O’Sullivan, the 2017 champion, hit the blue full in the face from his break-off at the start of the match. What followed was a catalogue of errors in the opener as Georgiou took an early lead without having to work hard for it.
The six-time world champion then prevented his opponent from registering a single point for the remainder of the tie as breaks of 82, 127, 129 and 108 saw O’Sullivan emphatically reach the next round.
Next up for the 45-year-old is his former practice partner Anthony Hamilton in the last 32.
"I felt nervous at the start. I was having something to eat and the game before was 4-2 all of a sudden. I had to rush over and had seven minutes to get ready," O’Sullivan told Eurosport after his victory.
"I kept trying to settle, as it was just a matter of time to go from chilling out and relaxing to really being focused. I feel like I’m cueing alright, so there is some good snooker in there."
Shaun Murphy recovered from 2-0 down to beat Joe O’Connor 4-2. The world number seven fired in breaks of 89, 98 and 138 to turn the match around and he now faces Fraser Patrick in the last 32.
David Gilbert made breaks of 101, 109 and 53 on his way to a 4-1 win over Martin O’Donnell to set up a clash with Yan Bingtao.
Yan defeated Nigel Bond 4-1, while his Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui beat fellow countryman Tian Pengfei 4-1.
