UK Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui and Mark Selby cruise through in York

Ronnie O'Sullivan: Won four successive frames after the mid-session interval

The two players were tied together at 2-2 at the mid-session interval, only for the 'Rocket' to come out firing after the break. He managed scores of 108, 100 and 54 as he claimed four frames in a row.

However the reigning world champion - who announced after his match on Monday he is planning to take another break from the sport - admits he still has plenty of hurdles to clear if he is to lift the trophy again.

"There are so many good players in this event," he said. "The danger is everyone thinking me, Ding (Junhui) and Neil (Robertson) are the hot favourites. I believe the winner could come from someone who's just about coming into form now.

"I'm not writing myself off, otherwise there's no point being here, I might as well pack up and throw a sicknote in.

"And I'm not writing off Ding's or Neil's chances, I'm just saying that the guys who have maybe not been getting the results, it's probably only a matter of time before they have their good spell."

Ding - champion in 2005 and then again in 2009 - also cruised through, seeing off Fergal O'Brien 6-1, while Australian Robertson saw off Li Hang of China by a 6-3 scoreline.

Defending champion Mark Selby didn't even drop a set in his third round match, dispatching Grimsby's Stuart Carrington 6-0.

Place secured

Meanwhile, Robert Milkins secured his place in snooker's Masters event for the first time with a 6-3 win over Matthew Stevens at the UK Championship.

The ranking points gained from his run to the last 16 will lift the Gloucester player to 13th in the world.

The top 15 after this week qualify in addition to world champion O'Sullivan and, with only Graeme Dott and Joe Perry able to overtake him, Milkins' place at Alexandra Palace in January is now assured.

He said: "We all have targets when we start our snooker careers. You want to play at the Crucible (in the World Championship), you want to win a ranking event, you want to get to the Masters.

"I've never played there and it's always been one of my aims to get there. I'm really looking forward to that now.

"It's a big weight off my shoulders. It's nice just to watch the rest of them fight it out for themselves."

Ricky Walden produced a break of 137 in the final frame to edge out Mark Williams 6-5 in their third-round encounter.

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen led 3-0 and 5-3 but needed a 56 in the deciding frame to finally shake off the challenge of Nottingham cueman Michael Holt, while Irishman David Morris ended the run of Sheffield amateur Mitchell Travis 6-1.