Snooker:Ronnie O'Sullivan was a cut above Peter Ebdon as he raced through to the second round of the World Championship at The Crucible in Sheffield.
The ‘Rocket’ wrapped up a 10-4 victory to set up a clash with Mark Williams or Liu Chuang in the last 16.
Despite winning the China Open at the start of the month, 41-year-old Ebdon barely troubled O’Sullivan at any stage as he suffered a fourth successive first-round exit at the event.
O'Sullivan was pleased to be through his first test, saying: “I knew it was going to be tough and I expected a tough game. That’s what you get with Peter.
“You just have to be solid. I tried to take my chances and even if I missed a few balls I didn’t get down on myself.
“I was just hoping that the next time I got to the table I was able to do something and get some points on the board.”
Downbeat in his press conference, and certainly not drumming up his prospects of winning a fourth world title, O’Sullivan added: “It’s each match at a time really, there’s no point getting carried away.
“Whatever happens now is a bonus for me. If I win, then great, but if I don’t it’s not the be-all and end-all. I'll just enjoy this one.”
Ebdon broke down in tears during his press conference as he spoke about his father Michael, who died last year.
“I’m really settled in my life and things are going forward. I've had a really tough time and especially after my dad passed away last year,” he said, his voice breaking.
“I miss my dad so much. And I know he would have been so proud of me that I’ve achieved 21 consecutive years at the Crucible. I set that goal a long time ago, and I know he would have been so proud of me, and I’m so gutted he’s not here.
“After my dad passed away last year, I didn’t know that I would want to play again.”
Judd Trump withstood a bout of suspected food poisoning to edge ahead of Dominic Dale as last year’s runner-up returned to the Crucible.
The 22-year-old English potter was unusually subdued in the early stages of his opener, and when he trailed 3-1 at the mid-session interval it seemed he was in trouble.
At that stage, Trump might have taken a 5-4 deficit, but instead he leads by that scoreline overnight, an ideal state of play considering his ill health at the start of play.
Trump finished the session in style with a rapid 68 break, doubling in the black in thrilling style.
Trump’s management believe he became sick after eating chicken, and he continued to feel ill after the session was over.
While Dale trailed, his fellow Welshman Ryan Day surprisingly pulled 5-4 in front of China's Ding Junhui, the player Trump beat in the semi-finals last year.
Day, who came from 7-3 behind to oust Northern Ireland's Gerard Greene 10-8 in the final round of qualifying, had breaks of 77, 44 and 52, while Ding made a 100 break and took the last frame of the session with a handy 53. Day and Ding play to a finish on Wednesday morning.
Joe Perry had a sterling session as the Englishman built an 8-1 lead over Scotland's Graeme Dott, the three-time finalist who won the world title in 2006.
Perry was the more clinical and stunned the Scot by taking an 8-0 lead before Dott eventually got a frame on the board after winning the final frame of the day.
There was only one break over 50 in the first four frames, but England's Perry capitalised on Dott’s mistakes and breaks of 39, 44 and 51 were enough to give him a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval.
He made it 5-0 with a 48 and then secured the next two frames. Then a break of 54 in frame eight was the highest of the match and a session whitewash looked on the cards.
But Dott dug in to win the last frame of the day and ensure he would not suffer only the second whitewash in Crucible history - a fate suffered by Australian legend Eddie Charlton back in 1992.