Ebdon is struggling ahead of his world title defence next month

Ronnie O'Sullivan moved a step closer to a place in snooker's record books after a 5-2 first-round win over Drew Henry in the �597,000 Regal Scottish Open on Monday.

O'Sullivan is chasing a third successive ranking title after his victories in the European Open and Irish Masters.

Only Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, who meet on Tuesday at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, have achieved that particular hat-trick.

The Rocket's latest victory was his 14th in a row. He will now aim to make it 15 against Alan McManus or Patrick Wallace, who meet on Wednesday.

O'Sullivan began the match against Henry in typical quickfire fashion, reeling off the first four frames in just 53 minutes.

I knew Ronnie was the man in form and if you get chances against him you've got to take them Drew Henry

In doing so, he outscored the Glaswegian, ranked 22 in the world, 370 points to 17.

After the interval it was a different story as Henry kept the game alive with runs of 49 and 41. He might also have added the seventh frame but threw away a 53-6 advantage and didn't pot another ball.

"I just needed a red and a pink," sighed Henry, who had beaten O'Sullivan in the UK Championship at York last December.

"I knew Ronnie was the man in form and if you get chances against him you've got to take them."

In Monday's earlier games, Peter Ebdon's poor run of form continued with a 5-2 second round loss to Ali Carter.

The world champion is without a title win since taking the title in Sheffield last May.

Ebdon played poorly in what turned out to be his final game before returning to the Crucible to defend his crown.

I've had three or four good days in tournaments but never put together a really good week - hopefully I can have a good run here Ali Carter

But Carter produced some fine play, including the highest break of his career - a 142 to take a 4-1 lead.

In addition, he fired in a second-frame break of 116 and 76 in the third.

Ebdon's scalp means Carter has now beaten six players to have won the world title, although he has yet to feature in a major final.

He said: "I've had three or four good days in tournaments but never put together a really good week - hopefully I can have a good run here."

Stephen Lee is another player in need of an extended run before arriving at Sheffield and unlike Ebdon, the defending champion progressed into round three with a 5-2 victory over Lancastrian Ian McCulloch.

Lee now meets Essex left-hander Mark King whose attempts to retain his top-16 status were boosted by his 5-3 victory over Robert Milkins.

Dave Harold, a semi-finalist at the Irish Masters, continued his good form with a 5-4 victory over world number 12 Graeme Dott. Harold now plays Ebdon's conqueror Carter.

Ulsterman Joe Swail gained a rare win when he knocked out qualifier Alfie Burden 5-2. Swail next plays world number one Mark Williams or Michael Holt for a place in the quarter-finals.