Ronnie O’Sullivan avoided a shock as he booked his place in the main draw of the China Open with a 6-2 victory over Ross Muir in qualifying. The Rocket has been at his sparkling best this season, winning five ranking event titles to date, including his most recent success at last month’s Players Championship.
The five-time world champion can now become the first player to earn £1million in prize money in a single season if he goes all the way in Beijing this week and he made the perfect start after disposing of Scotland’s Muir during qualifying. Breaks of 110, 67, 64 and 84 helped ease the 42-year-old into the main draw, but he insists he is not motivated by earning lots of money. “It was difficult for Ross today because he’s not used to the TV table so there was more pressure on him than me,” O’Sullivan was quoted as saying on the World Snooker website. “I don’t play snooker for the money, but for some of the other players this is a big opportunity to earn a lot.”
Next up for O’Sullivan is a first-round clash with fellow Englishman Elliot Slessor on Tuesday and he will be hoping to avoid a repeat of his only previous meeting with the 23-year-old, as he suffered a surprise 4-1 defeat at last year’s Northern Ireland Open. O’Sullivan is priced at 1/14 to secure a victory from Tuesday’s match, while Slessor is available at 13/2 to get one over the world number two once again.