 O'Sullivan will next face Hong Kong's Marco Fu in Shanghai |
Ronnie O'Sullivan raced into the second round of the Shanghai Masters with a comfortable 5-0 win over Graeme Dott. The world number one had been a doubt for the season's opener but a local Chinese doctor helped him recover from a dislocated bone in his back. Second seed Stephen Maguire, 28, was not so lucky, with a shoulder injury forcing his withdrawal on Wednesday. The Scot slipped in the shower at his Glasgow home last week but travelled to China hoping he would be fit enough. Despite having painkillers and acupuncture, as well as treatment from the Chinese football team's doctor, Maguire had no other option but to pull out of playing. "It's obviously more serious than I first thought," he told 110sport.tv. "The injury has been diagnosed as internal bleeding in a muscle. And it's just too painful to play. "I am really gutted at having travelled all this way just to go back home without hitting a ball." O'Sullivan started well against Dott with breaks of 41 and 39 to take the first frame, won the second on a re-spotted black and secured victory in the fifth with a run of 101 - the only break over 50 in the match. "It was a strange game, Graeme doesn't usually make silly mistakes, but he didn't take his chances tonight," said O'Sullivan. "I think my form was better last year because I'd won the World title and I came here on a high. Maybe this time it will be harder to motivate myself, or maybe my form will come along." Barry Hawkins, Maguire's opening-round opponent, has had a bye and will face 1997 world champion Ken Doherty in the second round on Thursday.  | 606: DEBATE |
In Wednesday's early ties, China's Ding Junhui won his first match in a ranking event in his homeland for 18 months with an impressive 5-2 victory over Stephen Lee. Ding raced to a 3-0 lead helped by breaks of 132 and 93 and despite a brief recovery from the Trowbridge potter, victory was soon secured. The 22-year-old Ding said: "I played quite well before the interval and put a lot of pressure on my opponent. Stephen played a lot better defensively after that but I was getting more into the game and played much better." World Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy had few problems as he cruised past Michael Holt in a 5-1 win. The Sale potter will be joined in the next round by Ali Carter, who won his first ranking event title last season when he beat Joe Swail in the final of the Welsh Open. Carter saw off a battling Tian Pengfei and recovering from two frames down to eventually edge through 5-3. In a repeat of their first round match at this year's World Championships, Joe Perry had been hoping for revenge on Jamie Cope after losing 10-6 in Sheffield. However, the 'Shotgun' from Stoke, 23, was victorious once again, scraping through a nervy final frame to win 5-4 and set up a clash with Murphy. Northern Irishman Mark Allen, now the world number 11, was beaten 5-2 by Matthew Stevens, who will face fellow Welshman Ryan Day in the second round. Compatriot Mark Williams also progressed, a 5-3 victory over Northern Ireland's Joe Swail earning the two-time former world champion a date with the current Crucible king John Higgins. Williams, restricted in his shot selection with a broken wrist, said: "I'm very pleased to win. I didn't expect to as certain shots were very difficult, like bridging over balls. "It was 50/50 as to whether I came out to Shanghai but I'm glad to have won," said the winner of 16 ranking event titles, including five in Asia.
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