Rocket coasts through

O'Sullivan: Through to second round

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Ronnie O'Sullivan sailed into the second round of the totesport.com Welsh Open with a 5-1 victory over former practice partner Stuart Bingham.

The win went some way to compensate for 'The Rocket's Pokerstars.com Masters final defeat to Mark Selby last week.

O'Sullivan dominated from the off with breaks of 56, 66 and 89 to take the opening three frames, while Bingham trimmed his lead in a scrappy fourth frame following an error in safety from the world number one.

Bingham also had chances to take the fifth, but after the Basildon player missed a red and a black in quick succession, O'Sullivan cleared the colours, including a superb green along the side cushion.

O'Sullivan then wrapped up the match with a break of 82 which culminated with an exhibition pink and a final shot that sent both white and black flying off the table.

During another eccentric post-match press conference, O'Sullivan rated his performance at "11" out of 10.

Triumph

Matthew Stevens gave the home crowd something to shout about with a dramatic 5-4 victory over world number three Shaun Murphy.

The Welshman quickly moved into a 2-0 lead but Murphy rallied to go ahead 3-2, however Stevens was swift to reply as he levelled by securing the frame on the yellow.

The next two frames were shared and it was Murphy who first amongst the balls in the decider, racking up a 51-point lead.

But Stevens replied handsomely, clearing up with a run of 75 to book his place in the second round against Mark Allen.

Allen, who fell to Selby 6-5 in the Masters quarter-finals, saw off Leicester's Tom Ford 5-2.

The Northern Irishman was trailing 2-0 before posting half-century breaks in five consecutive frames - 58, 56, 52, 64 and 61 - to seal his win.

Maguire through

Ryan Day added further home cheer when he fought back from 3-1 down to beat Maltese veteran Tony Drago 5-4 in another tense finish.

The other match in the second session also went the distance with world number two Shaun Maguire squeezing past Dominic Dale.

Maguire appeared to be cruising with leads of 3-0 and 4-1 but Dale responded with a break of 94 before watching the Scot score 58 in the next.

However, Dale chipped away at the lead and eventually took the frame by potting the last four colours, before squaring the match courtesy of a 69 break.

But it was Maguire who eventually progressed following a scrappy decider and now faces Barry Hawkins.

Stephen Hendry was a more convincing winner, hammering Dave Harold in the late session. The veteran Scot stormed into a 3-0 lead and rallied to take the fourth with a break of 75 after Harold had knocked in a 53.

The Stoke player finally got on the board in the fifth frame but a run of 72 helped Hendry seal a 5-1 win despite Harold's response of 49.

Meanwhile, Mark King also advanced to round two after prevailing over Scotsman Marcus Campbell by the same 5-1 score-line.

The Essex player won a 63-minute second frame on the brown and also claimed a 54 break to join O'Sullivan in the second round.