Wuhan Open 2023: Ronnie O’Sullivan cruises past Mark Davis with 5-1 victory to progress into round three

Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the third round of the Wuhan Open after claiming a comfortable 5-1 win over Mark Davis.

O’Sullivan will next face Pang Junxu on Wednesday.

The Rocket won the first frame after Davis left a long green over the centre pocket, which he potted, before moving onto the brown and blue to move 1-0 ahead.

That lead was doubled with a break of 69 after Davis relinquished his hope of restoring parity after missing a black, and the Rocket potted the yellow and green.

The world No. 1 was motoring towards a whitewash victory when he extended his advantage with a break of 101 to claim a first century appearance of the week.

Those hopes of a whitewash were extinguished though, as O’Sullivan could only watch Davis build up a very respectable frame-winning break of 75 to get off the mark.

Davis then left a red over the middle pocket and Ronnie motored to break of 68, only to be thwarted be a red himself and give Davis a chance to save the frame.

It would be a brief reprieve though, as Davis failed on a pink, and O’Sullivan cleared up the remaining reds and all the colours up to the black to move one frame away from victory.

The fifth and final frame gave O’Sullivan some nervy moments after he missed a red, before Davis left another over a corner. There was hope for Davis again, as the Rocket missed an awkward blue.

A brief safety battle ensued, before the world No. 1 eventually prevailed 78-50 to win the match with relative comfort.