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Your support makes all the difference.RONNIE O'SULLIVAN, whose mood swings are as unpredictable as his snooker, managed to book a place in the last 16 of the China International at the JC Mandarin Hotel, here yesterday. However, O'Sullivan hardly inspired confidence after progressing with a 5-3 victory over Bradley Jones.
"I'm not really into it to be honest," said the twice UK champion. "I'm just going through the motions like I've been doing all season."
O'Sullivan, who withdrew from two events earlier this season suffering from mental and physical exhaustion, added: "I don't really care how I get on. What will be, will be."
Runs of 94 and 73 enabled O'Sullivan to build a 2-1 lead, but his frustration boiled over after missing a straightforward pink with frame four still in the balance. With four reds still on the table, and ample opportunity to recover, O'Sullivan decided to concede the frame even though he trailed only 49-22.
That made it 2-2 at the mid-session interval and when the next two frames were shared, Jones, the English world No 44, had the chance to claim one of the biggest scalps of his career. But Jones put simple reds into the jaws of the pocket when in prime position in each of the following two frames and both mistakes proved costly.
O'Sullivan stepped in with high speed runs of 55 and 81 to avoid a repeat of his first round exit at the hands of Darren Morgan at last week's Thailand Masters in Bangkok. He moves forward to meet James Wattana or Billy Snaddon.
Malta's Tony Drago became the first member of the game's elite top 16 to be eliminated when he was crushed 5-0 by Paul Davies in only 76 minutes.
Drago, the world No 10, found the going tough as Davies sailed through to meet either fellow Welshman Dominic Dale or, more likely, Mark Williams, who arrived in Shanghai fresh from winning the Thailand Masters title.
Michael Holt, a promising 20-year-old from Nottingham, marked his debut in an overseas tournament by setting an early target for the pounds 2,500 highest break award.
Holt fired home a 140 total clearance during his 5-1 victory over Yang Ji Ann in the wild-card play-off round, but Yorkshireman Peter Lines found local cueman Pang Wei Guo too hot to handle. Wei Guo underlined his potential with contributions of 63, 42, 104, 50 and 79 on the way to a high quality 5-1 success.
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