Ronnie O'Sullivan races into UK Snooker Championship fourth round with win over Michael White
Last Updated: 06/12/17 4:01pm
Ronnie O'Sullivan celebrated his birthday with a 6-1 win over Michael White at the UK Championship in York.
The 42-year-old five-time world champion is the highest-ranked player left in the tournament, which has seen holder Mark Selby, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui all fail to progress.
O'Sullivan opened up a 3-1 interval lead over Welshman White with breaks of 132 and 64 before closing out a comfortable victory at the Barbican Centre in confident fashion.
Elsewhere in Tuesday's afternoon session, Neil Robertson, the world No 10 from Australia, was edged out 6-5 by Mark Joyce.
Scotland's John Higgins, the world No 5, held off a recovery from Yan Bingtao of China to progress 6-3, while Mark King knocked out Belgian world No 13 Luca Brecel by the same scoreline to move into the last 16.
In Tuesday's evening session, world No 8 Barry Hawkins suffered a shock 6-0 defeat against Thailand's Akani Songsermsawad, who goes on to meet O'Sullivan in round four.
World No 6 Shaun Murphy booked his place in the last 16 with a 6-3 win over Jimmy Robertson, while Ricky Walden saw off Kyren Wilson 6-2 and China's Xiao Guodong beat Thai player Noppon Saengkham 6-3.
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