O’Sullivan progresses to quarter-finals

Illness almost struck down Ronnie O’Sullivan, but in the end it was Marco Fu who was left feeling dizzy after the defending champion produced a 90-minute masterclass at the Dafabet Masters.

O’Sullivan complained of feeling light-headed during his first-round match but he still managed to treat his legions of fans to a thumping 6-0 against the helpless Fu at the Alexandra Palace.

The Chigwell ace is playing some of the best snooker of his career and already has three ranking event titles to his name this season, including the UK Championships last month.

And he played Fu off the table, scoring 649 points to Fu’s 35 across the six frames, on his way to booking a quarter-final with Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen.

“I feel a little bit dazed and confused at the moment, I have had it for about six days. I feel funny, I don’t think I have flu but I am just a little light-headed,” he said.

“I am all over the shop at the minute to be honest with you. I try not to over-think my performances but I am glad to get through.

“I love playing everywhere, just give me a cue, a table and some balls and I will play for you. Practice, Masters whatever – I get a buzz from just potting balls.”

Despite being under the weather, it took O’Sullivan a matter of minutes to underline his status as tournament favourite, hitting two centuries in quick succession.

He backed that up with a 74 and 112 before the mid-session interval and Fu was forced to wait until the fifth frame just to pot a ball.

But there was nothing he could do as O’Sullivan finished off the match quickly after the break and he says he’s playing such entertaining snooker it’s like watching Lionel Messi play football.

“I am not determined to entertain, I just go out there to play the game the way I play it and I know that if I play well then nobody does it the way I do it,” he added.

“It is a great feeling to be able to show people a wonderful way of how this game can be played and it is different to how everybody else does it and that is a great buzz for me.

“When I am long gone and dead and they whack it on YouTube, people will say ‘he was a bit like Messi’.

“There is football and there is Messi, there is Roger Federer and there are other tennis players. They get the ball over the net and they win tournaments but Federer is a joy to watch and the others are just good to watch.

“That is kind of how I see the way I play and I think the fans get something from that as well.”

• Watch the London Masters LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Neil Robertson, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.