Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2012 - Ronnie rockets past Ebdon
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CRUCIBLE DRAW
Crowd favourite 'Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan has got off to a great start at this years World Snooker Championship with a commanding 10-4 victory over recent China Open champion Peter Ebdon in the afternoon.
Many were expecting a closer game between the two former world champions when the draw was made but at the end of their first session yesterday it was O'Sullivan who took a 7-2 lead, coming through a respotted black in the first frame and recording a top break of 103.
German Masters champion O'Sullivan got off to the best start today, making a 80 clearance to go 8-2 up. Ebdon brought it back to 8-3 but O'Sullivan quickly hit back with a 68 to go one away from victory. He faces potentially another world champion in the next round, Mark Williams, who plays Liu Chuang.
Ebdon won the next to keep his hopes up but it was too late as the Chigwell cueman finished the match with a 10-4 victory.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
O'Sullivan said after his match 'All credit to Peter, he is a top player and he had an amazing achievement winning the China Open with an incredibly tough draw.
'I tried to take my chances throughout the match and when I missed a ball I didn't get down on myself. I knew it was going to be tough playing Peter, it certainly wasn't the easiest of draws.
Speaking about season 'I am definitely much better now mentally, my game still isn't the best but I am happy in general with how things are going.'
His opponent Ebdon said 'I had plenty of chances in the first session yesterday and it just didn't happen for me. Ultimately Ronnie didn't have to play at his best to beat me.
I am disappointed though as I felt that if I had won this match I would of had a great run in this tournament. Whoever did the draw is definitely off my christmas card list!'
Afterwards he emotionally paid tribute to his father who had passed away recently 'It doesn't help my that I lost my dad last year. I miss him so much, I know he would of been proud of me and my win in China.'
The other match in the afternoon featured 2006 world champion Graeme Dott and former semi-finalist Joe Perry. Unfortunately for Dott he probably played one of the worst sessions of his career as he lost the session 8-1, narrowly avoiding the whitewash taking the last frame with two visits. Their match resumes tomorrow.
Judd Trump
Last year's world finalist and the current UK champion Judd Trump fought off a shakey start in his Crucible campaign in the morning session, coming from 3-1 behind to finish the session 5-4 up over the Welshman.
Suffering from reported food poisoning Trump recorded breaks of 54, 53 & 68 after coming back from the mid-session interval to ensure that he wouldn't enter tomorrow's second session at a disadvantage.
Ding Junhui
On the other side of the Crucible wall another UK champion, Ding Junhui wasn't at his best either but he managed to ensure that he would only trail another Welshman, Ryan Day, 5-4 at the end of their session.
Frames were shared as they went 2-2 at the interval. Ding looked the sharpest when they returned and he knocked in a break of 100. Breaks of 52, 35 and 31 helped former multiple ranking event finalist Day to establish a 5-3 lead but thankfully for Welsh Open champion Ding he finished with a break of 53 to finish only 5-4 behind his opponent.
Click here to see more photos from today at the Crucible.
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