Snooker results: Ronnie O'Sullivan thumps Ryan Day to reach World Championship quarter-finals

Day gave himself a glimmer of hope by winning the final two frames of Sunday night's second session, but his performance was a story of unforced errors and he continued to make mistakes as O'Sullivan barely had to break sweat to finish the job.

Day really should've won the opening frame of the morning, a poor positional shot when only a couple of pots from clawing one back costing him dearly, and O'Sullivan even had time to share a joke with an audience member before clearing the colours in typically ruthless fashion.

When O'Sullivan followed up with a clearance of 85 in the next frame, Day was on the brink, though he did pull a frame back to keep the match alive.

O'Sullivan, though, was in no mood to delay the inevitable and he put Day out of the misery by signing off with a fluent run of 67.

O’Sullivan told BBC Sport: “I thought Ryan made it tough for me. I thought if I’d not been as tight and as clinical in some situations he probably would have got on more of a roll at times.

“So I was pleased to be able to stem that at points and try and have an impact as well when I got a chance.

“Early days for me, I’m just trying this new way of playing, different style of cueing just to get away from the yips – that’s the easiest way of explaining it.

“It’s been hard work for two years and I decided I couldn’t continue playing like that, so I had to make some changes and it’s like the body and the mind are trying to catch up with each other.

“I’ve got some of it right and it’s just the other pieces need to fall in. I’m just trying to work out the puzzle at the moment.”

Renewed belief for the Rocket

He added: “I’ve had such a long time in the doldrums. Two years I’ve held it down and not really mentioned anything, but it’s been really challenging.

“I’ve even had to take medication for the anxiety and that sort of stuff. Even in small tournaments, even when I’m not playing, that’s how bad the game can make me feel at times.

“So I didn’t want to do that anymore. I just had a bit of excitement the last few weeks feeling that I can get through the ball a bit better, but then you come back crashing down to earth a bit.

“I was out there last night and it started to wander a bit but it was like, ‘Can we fix it, can we get back on track?’.

“There was some good bits there today so I’m just getting a bit more belief that I can sustain it.”

Kyren Wilson also resumed against Joe O'Connor holding a 10-6 advantage and the 2020 runner-up eased over the winning line, reeling off the three frames he required to seal a 13-6 win.

Wilson edged a scrappy first frame and then won another lengthy frame, at which point O’Connor's race was run and Wilson was able to seal a straightforward win.

World Snooker Championship: Draw and round-by-round results

ROUND ONE

Best of 19 frames (April 20-25)

• (1) Luca Brecel 9-10 David Gilbert
• (16) Robert Milkins 10-9 Pang Junxu
• (9) Ali Carter 7-10 Stephen Maguire
• (8) Shaun Murphy 10-5 Lyu Haotian
• (5) Mark Selby 6-10 Joe O’Connor
• (12) Kyren Wilson 10-1 Dominic Dale
• (13) John Higgins 10-6 Jamie Jones
• (4) Mark Allen 10-6 Robbie Williams
• (3) Judd Trump 10-5 Hossein Vafaei
• (14) Tom Ford 10-6 Ricky Walden
• (11) Zhang Anda 4-10 Jak Jones
• (6) Mark Williams 9-10 Si Jiahui
• (7) Ding Junhui 9-10 Jack Lisowski
• (10) Gary Wilson 5-10 Stuart Bingham
• (15) Barry Hawkins 8-10 Ryan Day
• (2) Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-1 Jackson Page

ROUND TWO

Best of 25 frames (April 25-29)

• David Gilbert 13-4 Robert Milkins (16)
• Stephen Maguire 13-9 Shaun Murphy (8)
• Joe O'Connor 6-13 Kyren Wilson (12)
• (13) John Higgins 13-12 Mark Allen (4)
• (3) Judd Trump 13-7 Tom Ford (14)
• Jak Jones 13-9 Si Jiahui
• Jack Lisowski 11-13 Stuart Bingham
• Ryan Day 7-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)

QUARTER-FINALS

Best of 25 frames (All matches April 30-May 1)

• David Gilbert v Stephen Maguire (QF 1)
• (12) Kyren Wilson v John Higgins (13) (QF 2)
• (3) Judd Trump v Jak Jones (QF 3)
• Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) (QF 4)

SEMI-FINALS

Best of 33 frames (May 2-4)

• Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2 (SF 1)
• Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4 (SF 2)

FINAL

Best of 35 frames (May 5-6)

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

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