O'Sullivan crushes Ding in Worcestershire whitewash - 09/10/2008

RONNIE O’Sullivan turned in a superb performance to whitewash Ding Junhui and pick up his first win of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker at Malvern Theatres in Great Malvern.

Ronnie O'Sullivan

The World No.1 had taken just one point from his first two games with a draw against John Higgins and a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Joe Perry.

Ding was desperate to pick up points as well with an identical record to O’Sullivan’s, but he was simply blown away by The Rocket, who earned £8,000 thanks to two tremendous century breaks.

"Not too bad for a night’s work, it’s nearly what I got for a whole week in China," said O’Sullivan, referring to his runners-up performance in the Shanghai Masters.

"Ding had a few chances and could’ve nicked the first frame but I’m happy with how I played."

O ’Sullivan started neatly in the first frame after Ding's first attempt at a red let him in, but he twice let in Junhui and the 21 year-old had frame ball after a 44 break, but he missed a tricky red and O’Sullivan got the ball rolling with a 43 clearance.

A masterful 134 wrapped up the second frame in under ten minutes before he secured a point with a 65 break after a safety exchange that the World No.11 would have hoped would slow his opponent down.

Ding put O’Sullivan in real trouble in frame four though with his break-off leaving Ronnie behind the green and three fouls later Junhui had a free ball. But he failed to punish O’Sullivan and the win was sealed with a break of 53.

The whitewash was on when a 71 break took the fifth frame and a wonderful 126 in the sixth frame completed the most comprehensive of victories as the World Champion starts to find his feet in this year’s league.

“I’m still throwing in some odd strange shots when it used to be eight frames of rubbish but I’m getting there,” said O’ Sullivan.

Malvern Theatres, Great Malvern
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6–0 Ding Junhui
63-56 (O'Sullivan 43, Ding 44), 134-0 (O'Sullivan 134), 66-1 (O'Sullivan 65), 70-31 (O'Sullivan 53, Ding 31), 71-30 (O'Sullivan 71), 126-0 (O'Sullivan 126)