Ronnie O’Sullivan moving through the gears at World Open
- Planet Sport writer
- 20 March 2024
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy all booked their places in the last 16 of the World Open in Yushan.
The world number one had looked rusty in his previous round win over Michael White but got back in the groove to shrug off the determined world number 28 Lyu Haotian.
Lyu twice hit back to level in the first four frames but O’Sullivan would not be denied and breaks of 106 and 96 in the final three frames to set up a meeting with Hossein Vafaei.
Judd Trump, who won the tournament when it was last staged in 2019, stayed on course for a repeat performance as he fired two centuries in a 5-3 win over Fan Zhengyi.
Trump’s performance was upstaged by Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy, both of whom compiled three centuries as they secured victories over Cao Yupeng and Joe Perry respectively.
Neil Robertson and Mark Selby were also winners, but world champion Luca Brecel’s recent return to form juddered to a halt as he was thrashed 5-1 by Stephen Maguire.
